News

New year’s eve is normally a busy night for ambulance services but this year it was even more so with of over 1200 999 cases received by West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and the specialist Temporary Minor Injuries Unit (TMIU) on Birmingham’s Broad Street handled some of these cases. Alongside paramedics, doctors and other health care professionals the unit was supported by volunteer Community First Responders (CFRs) Debbie Towers (Birmingham South Co-ordinator) and Julian Hunter (Birmingham South CFR who gave up ... Read more

On Saturday 12th December a group from Fastaid were the first to be trained in conflict resolution. This one day course has been specifically designed for Community First Responders and was lead by Andy Whittington, Community Resuscitation Development Officer. Topics covered were such things as awareness of possible threats and dangers to the lone worker, how to handle aggressive behaviour and, in extremis, how to work with other team members to control volatile situations. Mark Atherton, who was one of the participants on the course, said that he found the ... Read more

The Birmingham and Black Country Community First Responder group, Fastaid, has just been awarded £1,200 from the Birmingham City Council Longbridge and Northfield Community Chest fund. The fund was setup to recognise and support local community groups and their generous donation will go towards kitting out new CFRs in the Northfield and Longbridge areas. Fastaid Chairman, Tim Atherton, said: “We are very grateful to the council for this donation. It is the result of lots of hard work by our team in South ... Read more

Community First Responders (CFRs) descended on Sainsbury’s in Solihull at the weekend to help shoppers pack groceries in exchange for donations to Fastaid. With collection tins galore, the CFR team packed their socks off from 10.00am until 4.00pm on Saturday 28th November and raised a staggering £695.36! Dave Monk, Fundraising Manager for Fastaid said: “Thanks to all CFR’s who helped on the day, and to the local Sainsbury’s who have now supported Fastaid on many occasions.”

Members of the local FastAid CFR’s group had a photo shoot with Paramedics from the WMAS to stage pictures for the new regional recruitment leaflet soon to be produced from the Community response department. They were wearing the latest uniform design, that can now be seen worn on CFR’s from all over the region, helping members of the public recognise this growing force of community volunteer staff helping the WMAS save even more lives. These pictures will be added to a new libary ... Read more

Fast aid has now received it’s new fundraising Resusci Aids. A handy key ring that contains a protective one way face shield to prevent any rescuer from infection when giving Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation to a patient suffering from a cardiac arrest. These are being sold at a minimum cost of £1.50 to further raise much needed funds to provide equipment for the latest CFR’s to be trained by the WMAS. They are proving very popular at the charities Heartstart training sessions, as ... Read more

The Chief executive, Antony Marsh, of West Midlands Ambulance Service popped into the monthly meeting of FastAid to present Linda Atherton with the Chief Officer’s Commendation, in recognition of her fast thinking actions only days after attending the Hearstart course. Whilst on a day trip with her grandson, he had placed a bottle top into his mouth, and unfortunately began to choke when it became lodged into the back of his throat. Linda immediately sprang into action to clear the object from ... Read more

The CFR’s were on out in force at Knowle and Dorridge’s charity fun day in the park, organized by the Round Table, the CFR’s set out to raise funds to purchase the equipment required for the new compliment of staff that are training at the moment. It was the first time the CFR’s were able to sell there new resuscitation key ring aids, which will allow the public to confidently perform Basic Life support with out risk of infection to themselves, while ... Read more

CFR’s are now being fitted with the new style FFP3 masks to prevent the spread of the flu virus during the next outbreak. Each CFR will go through a training session to ensure they are able to correctly fit the mask and are updated on the latest infection control procedures.

A window cleaner suffered serious injuries when he fell 20ft from his ladder while he was cleaning windows in Bentley Heath on Monday August 18. The man, who was 45 and from Alvechurch, was cleaning the first floor windows at a house in Slater Road when the incident unfolded at around 6.30pm. Emergency crews and two Community First Responders were quickly on the scene and called for the help of the Midlands Air Ambulance when it became clear he had suffered ‘potentially serious’ ... Read more