"The Caersws First Responder team works with the Welsh Ambulance Service to respond to life threatening incidents in their community and to mark their one year anniversary, the team are holding an Open Day on the 12th April.

As co-ordinator I set up the team after working on a project as part of the Caersws division of St John Ambulance. I contacted the Welsh Ambulance Service and together we started the first Community First Responder partnership with the Welsh Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance in Wales.

The Open Day will be held on Saturday 12th April 10am-2pm at The Buck Hotel, Caersws with a cake stand, raffle and refreshments as well as the chance to meet the team.

We want to give members of our community the chance to come and see what we do and how we can all help to make a difference.

I would also like to thank everybody for their support throughout the past year. We've had tremendous support from everyone in the community and this really is the community's team.

Since the group was launched 12 months ago, they have attended 64 incidents in and around the village. The 10 volunteers currently involved include a clinical nurse practitioner, hospital porter and nurses, and I work for a steel building company.

But the day job doesn't matter as being a Community First Responder means you never know what's around the corner.

The very first call was to my uncle who had chest pains. The adrenaline was pumping already as it was our first incident and when I saw the address, I knew it would be a tough one.

But that is what's so valuable about being a first responder in a community like Caersws, we go to people we know so we can be that familiar face in the first minutes before an ambulance can arrive. This is a huge help to people who are often very distressed but we can talk to them about mutual friends as we carry out what can be life-saving treatment.

The success of the team is not surprising considering the history of life saving schemes in the village.

My granddad was one of a few volunteers who drove the local ambulance back in the 1950s when there used to be a phone in the local pub for the ambulance. Whoever picked up the phone would head out on the job. Things may have come a long way since then but the spirit is the same - it's the community helping out the community and I'm proud to continue that.

First Responders work with the Welsh Ambulance Service to respond to certain 999 calls and provide life saving treatment in the minutes before an ambulance can arrive.

Whilst they do not replace existing ambulance services, the volunteers are trained to carry out basic life-saving skills, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and the use of a defibrillator.

First Responders receive training from a local Paramedic or Technician acting as Team Manager and each First Responder will undergo a reassessment annually.

To become a First Responder the minimum age is 18, you must be physically fit and also hold a full driving licence. Applicants will also need to undergo a Criminal Records Bureau, complete a application pack and visit the local Occupational Health dept before being registered to the scheme.

If you think you can make a difference to your community by volunteering as a Community First Responder, contact Regional First Responder Office (Central & West Region) through the website listed to the right of this page.

Article by Sion Breese

Update: October 2008.

The Caersws St. John first responder team have assisted the ambulance service and their local communities by responding to over 100 calls within 18 months of setting up their scheme.

The team who train together each month have responded to a wide range of emergency calls, including heart attacks, collapses and trauma calls.

The area they have responded to includes communities as far apart as Carno and Kerry and Aberhafesp and Llanidloes.

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