Five new CFR schemes established in Skye

FIVE new Community First Responder groups have been established in the Skye area following a recruitment drive in the area.

Community First Responders (CFRs) are volunteers who are trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to attend certain types of emergency calls - such as cardiac arrests - where they live or work.

Two public meetings were held recently encouraging people to join schemes in the Skye area. Ricky Laird, SAS Community Resilience Team Leader (North), who spoke at both meetings, said the response was excellent.

On the back of the strong interest shown, the Scottish Ambulance Service has trained 11 new volunteers for five new groups in Portree, Staffin, Uig, Minginish and Sleat. These groups, along with current groups in Glendale and Waternish, provide vital care within their local communities prior to the arrival of an ambulance.

Ricky said: “This is excellent news for the area. CFRs are invaluable to communities across Scotland. Their aim is to reach a potential life-threatening emergency in the first vital minutes before the ambulance crew arrives.

“Following our public meetings we had a fantastic response and we thank those who have offered to provide support to these communities. We are always interested to receive applications of interest so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

Training courses were held in March and April, where eleven volunteers were trained in the skills needed to be a CFR.

One of those already a volunteer is CFR Lesley MacLean, who joined the Waternish CFR scheme in May 2016. She is now co-ordinator of the group.

She said she attends a number of jobs, such as cardiac arrest, and CFRs are “trained to deal with a number of scenarios”. They are an invaluable link in the Chain of Survival - early intervention, early CPR, early defibrillation, and post-resuscitation care.

Lesley added: “We will only be called to an incident for which we have been trained. Generally, the calls we receive relate to cardiac or breathing issues.

“It’s important to be able to provide support to your community. The local community have been fantastic in supporting us with fundraising to purchase training equipment.”