Lottery Grant Awarded
17.11.2007
The Solihull community first responder group, FastAid, receivesd £9,065 from the National Lottery's Awards for All to buy additional defibrillators. The group is part of the West Midlands Ambulance Service's scheme of volunteers trained to deal with life-threatening emergencies, such as heart attacks, strokes or choking. The responders are called if an emergency happens within seven minutes travelling time of their address to provide treatment until an ambulance arrives.
FastAid Uniforms and Equipment Officer, Tim Atherton, said: "We are trained by the ambulance service, but we use our own cars and equipment. We currently have around 30 responders, and want to recruit more. Every responder needs a defibrillator, which is used to stop ventricular fibrillation in a heart attack. A patient's chances of survival fall by seven to ten per cent every minute a defibrillator is not used. The equipment costs around £1,500, and we want to buy five or six more for new recruits and as spares, as the defibrillators have a life-span or only five to seven years."