Life-savers in Rossendale recognised for their work (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Life-savers in Rossendale recognised for their work
8:00pm Monday 11th March 2013 in News By Lawrence Dunhill
Andrew Walmsley, First Responders chairman, co-ordinator Dawn Taylor, and volunteers Alan Scowcroft and Brian Pickup
VOLUNTEERS have won recognition for their work to improve life-saving emergency care in Rossendale.
Thanks to their efforts, seven defibrillators – similar to the device which helped save Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba after a cardiac arrest – have been installed in key locations across the valley in recent years.
A team of 30 First Responders have also been assisting North West Ambulance Service on 999 calls, and teaching basic life-saving skills in the community.
Dawn Taylor, 62, is a member of Community Defibrillators Rossendale and Rossendale Community First Responders, which have both been given ‘gold’ awards by ambulance chiefs under their Cardiac-Smart initiative, which aims to improve emergency care in rural areas.
She said: “It’s a very proud moment for us.
“It’s a team effort and no individual has done this on their own.
“We’ve gone out into the communuity and taught basic life-support, training people in how to deal with medical emrgencies, and how to save a life.
“And we’ve put AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) out on the streets, so people can access them in an emergency.”
The Heart Beat Trust and Lancashire Defibrillator College also won recognition from North West ambulance chiefs.
Bob Williams, NWAS acting chief executive, said: “The CardiacSmart award is a great way to engage with local community groups and business organisations in raising awareness of heart health.
“The award criteria provides very structured and all-encompassing guidance to achieving a good level of heart safety; making it easier for groups to be able to think about all aspects of prom-oting the message and making their communities safer, from education, to their own engagement with their community.
“We hope that all those who have received their awards will vouch for the initiative, and prompt more people, community groups, and organisations, to begin to think more about how CardiacSmart they could become.”
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