A NEW Community First Responder (CFR) group is now responding to cardiac arrests in north County Clare. The Ruan-Dysart CFR group has been established by CRITICAL and is the emergency medical response charity’s third group operating in the county.
Community First Responders are local volunteers trained to provide immediate, life-saving medical care in the vital minutes before an ambulance arrives
The new CFR group has a team of 20 people and the volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds including healthcare, the emergency services, retail and childcare.
The group began training in January and went live on the 22nd of June. They are alerted by the National Ambulance Service to incidents in areas such as Ruan, Dysart, Toonagh, Kilnaboy, Corofin, Barefield, Crusheen and Tubber.
Lorraine White is co-ordinator of the Ruan-Dysart CFR group, she said, “Ruan-Dysart covers a wide rural area, bordering the Burren National Park, where everyone knows everyone. This means we have a wealth of incredible local knowledge which will help us to respond to incidents as they unfold. While it’s only 15 minutes to Ennis, it can take an hour to get to the acute hospitals in Limerick or Galway, which is a long way if you’ve suffered a cardiac arrest. The new Ruan-Dysart CFR group will ensure that people in these situations get the very best care from our volunteers as soon as possible.”
David Tighe, Chief Executive of CRITICAL added, “Community First Responder groups play a crucial role in the first minutes of a medical emergency when every second counts. The volunteers in Ruan-Dysart join our ever-expanding network of CFR groups across the country. We already have two very successful groups operating in County Clare in Ennis and Killaloe-Ballina providing life-saving care and serving the local community and our new group ensures even more people will receive vital care when they need it most.”
CRITICAL has a network of more than 300 volunteer responders active across Ireland who are notified of incidents by the National Ambulance Service. This includes doctors and consultants equipped with emergency response vehicles and high-tech equipment; community first responder (CFR) groups; as well off-duty paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs).
CRITICAL charity relies on fundraising to deliver its services. It costs approximately €15,000 to set up a new CFR group. For more information or to make a donation visit www.criticalcharity.ie
