New Community First Responders to be established in Kilcullen
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| Ger O'Dea addressing the meeting. |
A comprehensive description of the scheme was given by Ger O'Dea, a paramedic and HSE Community Engagement Officer at the National Ambulance Service.
Those present also heard from Amanda Ross, chair of the Naas Community First Responders, who provided valuable information on how to set up a unit, and detailed many of the practical aspects of the work.
David Finnegan, a Kilcullen resident who is an advanced paramedic and trainer at the National Ambulance College said the ambulance service does a great job, but as a community 'we need to be able to look after ourselves'. "Everything is about time, Cardiac Arrest can happen to anybody at any time, and we need to be able to respond quickly."
Jarlath Gilroy, son-in-law of Michael Lambe who suffered heart failure six weeks ago while watching a football match gave a first-hand description of how Michael's life had been saved through the work of four people who had the skills to administer CPR and operate a defibrillator. Those present also heard from one of the others, Brian Willis, who operated the defibrillator and noted that it had to be used twice to restart the victim's heart.
Karen Cradock, a Cardiac Physiotherapist for 20 years — "I see people at the end of this journey, living a good life" — told the meeting the biggest single thing that contributes to a good quality outcome is early CPR and defibrillation.
Nichola Kennedy, who organised the meeting, noted that a previous CFR unit in Kilcullen established in 2006 but disbanded five years ago had about 30 trained responders. "We had a good number of callouts, the majority of which were good outcomes," she said. "We disbanded because at the time we were well served by ambulances on two routes, and the motivation was gone."
She added that this had now changed, and Kilcullen is currently in a 'massive black hole' when it comes to ambulance respond time. "So we need to get involved ourselves again."
The process of setting up a committee and organising training for those interested is now going ahead. Anyone who wasn't at the meeting but would like to be involved should contact Nichola at her Optometrist practice in Kilcullen.
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