The St John Community First Responder (CFR) scheme has received a donation of £2,500 from the Inner Wheel of Guernsey.

The funds have been raised over the past 12 months by the organisation with the St John Community First Responder scheme chosen as the beneficiary by President Gill Girard. The donation will cover the costs of a new CFR, a volunteer trained and equipped to provide immediate life-saving first aid to seriously ill patients in their vicinity in the minutes before the ambulance arrives.

Gill Girard said: “I chose to support the St John Community First Responder scheme as my chosen charity this year because I realise how important a CFR is at the scene of an emergency and what a difference that early intervention can make while waiting for the ambulance.  We are delighted to be able to help fund the training and equipping of a CFR.”Earlier this year Chief Executive Officer of St John Ambulance & Rescue Service Mark Mapp gave a talk to members of the Inner Wheel about the CFR scheme.

Mark Mapp said: “I am extremely grateful to Gill and the Inner Wheel for their remarkable support in the recent fundraising campaign for our Community First Responder initiative. The generous contribution will significantly impact our mission to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. With this help, we are better equipped to respond swiftly and effectively to emergencies, ensuring that lives can be saved and injuries minimised.”

“Since I spoke to the Inner Wheel earlier this year, I am aware of at least two cases where a first responder has been instrumental in saving a life and another case where a publicly accessible defibrillator has been successfully used before the ambulance arrived on scene”.

Evidence suggests that early recognition that someone is experiencing a cardiac arrest, early alerting of the ambulance, early CPR and use of an AED all contribute to improving a patient’s chances of survival.

In Guernsey, when someone dials 999 to ask for an ambulance for a patient in cardiac arrest, or with another life-threatening medical emergency, a team of trained volunteer Community First Responders are also alerted, so that if they are nearby they can respond to provide immediate care in the first few minutes before the ambulance arrives.Inner Wheel is one of the largest voluntary women’s service organisations in the world, with women working together to make a difference and improve lives. The objectives of Inner Wheel are to promote true friendship; to encourage the ideals of personal service; and to foster international understanding, which is achieved through fundraising and personal service.

The donation to St John was made as Gill Girard comes to the end of her year in office as the President of Inner Wheel. Gill will hand over the role at the organisation’s AGM this month.