Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the North West Ambulance Service.

The Committee consider an update report from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) on progress with community and co-responder schemes. 

A Community First Responders (CFR) regional forum was established in February 2009 to ensure full engagement was undertaken with CFR representatives across the North West region.   A newsletter for CFRs had been introduced as part of various methods aimed at improving communication between NWAS and CFRs. 

A local group had been established in Cheshire chaired by the Chief Executive of the Central and Eastern Cheshire Primary Care Trust (PCT).  A co-responder scheme had been launched in conjunction with Cheshire Fire and Rescue.

An additional ambulance resource was to be deployed to serve the Nantwich area and its impact would be monitored closely.  The individual CFR who had previously operated on blue lights in Nantwich had now had the blue light restored in recognition of the unique and special skill he brought to his role as a Nantwich CFR. 

The NWAS had also developed a Chain of Survival strategy with 4 objectives:

      Improve public awareness of how and when to access emergency care;

      Increase the number of people in the North West able to provide basic emergency life support, including the use of an automated external defibrillator;

      Increase the availability of emergency medical equipment and in particular automated external defibrillators, for use in emergency situations;

      Increase the availability of advanced life support trained responders able to provide support to emergency ambulance crews.

The work would be overseen by a complementary resources steering group on which the Cheshire Association of Local Councils was represented.  NWAS anticipated that Cheshire villages and small towns would develop Public Access Defibrillation and CFR schemes and this would be supported by a Cheshire Steering Group. 

The new CFR scheme was soon to begin Crewe with four fully trained CFRs. 

Members noted that in some cases local Councils purchased defibrillation equipment but felt that maintenance and battery replacement should be a role for NWAS.  Members also felt that further information was needed on response times in Cheshire East and how these compared to other parts of the North West.

RESOLVED:  that:

(a) the update report on the Community First Responders Scheme and Co-Responders be noted; and

(b) a further report be requested from the North West Ambulance Service on response times and standards of service.