Shropshire Star

Llanfyllin responder equipment plea

Councillors are considering giving financial support to their town's emergency first responders team after hearing claims the life-saving service was "clearly underequipped".

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The volunteer emergency responders often have to find the money to buy vital equipment such as heart defibrillators out of their own pocket, members of Llanfyllin Town Council were told.

The responders are called out to medical emergencies where lives are at risk and are often first on the scene of an incident, arriving before ambulance paramedics are able to attend.

The town councillors agreed to consider how much they should give to support the service and also agreed to write to neighbouring councils to ask if they could also contribute to the cost of equipping the responders with the necessary equipment.

The Llanfyllin councillors made the decision at a meeting on Wednesday night (MAY 21) after receiving a presentation from Andy Frost and Robin Pinder, two of the town's four emergency first responders.

Mr Frost said the responder scheme was set up in 2005 after it became obvious there was a gap in 999 emergency medical care in Llanfyllin and the surrounding area.

He said many of the initial first responders dropped out of the scheme after "scaremongering" stories spread that the responders had been put in place to replace ambulances.

Mr Frost said: "We can't turn an ambulance back, we are not taking the place of an ambulance.

"Ambulances like anything cannot be everywhere but the first few minutes are the most important.

"We have got to be there in a few minutes, especially for cardiac arrests."

Mr Frost said the responder service was a vital service to the community and did save lives.

He told councillors three new responders had been trained to serve the area but needed funding to ensure they had the appropriate equipment.

Mr Frost said he was lucky in that the Welsh Ambulance Service had provided him with a defibrillator but none of the three newly trained responders would be given a defibrillator.

He said: "I have bought a lot of equipment out of my own pocket.

"You can go buying your own but that is up to the individual.

"It is assumed that the local groups will buy their own equipment.

"In my view every team member should have their own defibrillator and the kit they need but it all costs."

Town councillors were told a sum of between £4,000 to £5,000 would be enough to provide the kit to the new Llanfyllin first responders.

Councillor John Brautigam said: "We can see he need for the service. "You are clearly underequipped."

Councillors agreed to write to neighbouring councils to ask them to contribute to finding the £5,000 required.

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