News

A local Solihull car dealership is supporting FastAid by loaning them a brand new Mini Cooper Coupe to use as a response car for the next year.  The car will be used by the seven members of the Shirley team, hoping to provide on-call cover 7 days a week.  The car will respond to calls mainly in Shirley, Solihull and Dicken’s Heath and sometimes out to Olton, Hockley Heath, Knowle and Dorridge. Richard Jay, FastAid Vice Chairman, said: “The generous loan means so much.  It ... Read more

If anyone ever thought it must be lonely for Father Christmas, on his own on his sleigh, they weren’t in Shirley on midwinter’s night. May I say a really, really big thank you to around 15 CFRs, along with family members and friends, who accompanied the Shirley Round Table sleigh last night.  It was fantastic to have so many folk in what was both a social and Christmas scene.  A special thanks to all the little ones who collected and to those ... Read more

Left to Right: Karen Ratcliffe, Linda Atherton, Andy Jeynes, Terry Flower For what was forecast to be the busiest weekend of the year, FastAid volunteers from Solihull were out in force in Touchwood, Solihull High Street and Broad Street in Birmingham. The Community First Responders had their busiest weekend ever answering emergency calls passed to them by West Midlands Ambulance Service. In addition Luke Jeyes, an A&E nurse and FastAid CFR, helped with the temporary minor injuries set up in Broad Street to relieve pressure ... Read more

Courtesy of West Midlands Ambulance Service An awards ceremony was held in November to honour members of the public from across the West Midlands region who have gone beyond the call of duty to help save lives and support the work of West Midlands Ambulance Service’s 4,000 staff. The event, at Treetops on the grounds of West Midland Safari park in Bewdley, recognised the efforts of Midlands Air Ambulance fundraisers, voluntary car drivers, members of St. John Ambulance, Severn Area Rescue Association, Community First ... Read more

In June 2011 a 19 year old male collapsed whilst playing cricket in Solihull and a 999 call was made to the West Midlands Ambulance Service.  First on scene was a local Community First Responder from FastAid who arrived 3 minutes after the call was made.  He identified that the teenage was not breathing and had gone into cardiac arrest.  Using resuscitation equipment and a defibrillator supplied by FastAid and West Midlands Ambulance, the CFR administered 3 shocks as well as ... Read more

Two CFRs in Shirley are now ready to save lives thanks to a generous donation by a local club. When Shirley Tangent Club heard that FastAid CFRs Richard Jay and Mike Mansell were nearing the end of their training to respond to 999 calls, they decided to make a fund raising effort to ensure they were well equipped to help the people of their community. Shirley Tangent adopted FastAid as their charity and quickly raised £1,200 for an automated external defibrillator. ... Read more

A Solihull-based Community First Responder scheme reached their 500th 999 call in their new car in May! Last month FastAid CFRs responded to their 500th call usingtheir Alpha Mito which was donated to the scheme by Guest Alpha in Solihull last April. The “Alpha” team not only reached a milestone in their new car but May saw them respond to a record 53 calls.  Sam Jackson, FastAid Scheme Coordinator, said: “They’re a great team, very experienced and work really well together ... Read more

FastAid Community First Responders in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country have had a busy 12 months supporting the Trust. FastAid CFRs have been activated by Brierley Hill’s EOC to respond to 1,637 999 calls in the past year; in 45% of those cases a CFR was first on scene. A number of new recruits have joined FastAid, bringing the total number of active CFRs to 51 with a further 15 awaiting their final sign-off. FastAid has received more than £5,000 in donations from local communities ... Read more

October saw another round up of increasing activity levels at their AGM this year which was held at the West Midlands Fire Service’s Academy training centre. Grateful thanks goes to D R North and P Luckin for their efforts and help to make it a great event as well as providing a tour of the training facilities which the CFR’s hope to be able to utilise to further extend the range of skills available to them.

A Community First Responder group in Solihull has had a busy few months attending 999 calls, thanks to ARP. Terry Flower, Tim Atherton, Mark Atherton, Linda Atherton, Karen Ratcliffe and Sam Jackson provide voluntary cover in Solihull and the surrounding areas. With their very own FastAid car, an Alfa Romeo sponsored and funded by Guest Alfa, the CFRs (call sign RC184) usually respond seven days a week. After going live with a handheld ARP on 12th April, they attended almost 50 cases in May. Terry said: ... Read more