Witham Community First Responders on saving lives and more

The 21-year-old police officer deals with many emergency situations in his working day. 

But while many of switch off when our shifts end William uses his spare time to act as a volunteer at the Witham Community First Responders.

The qualified group of recruits are the first line of response and deal with emergencies in the area.

As community first responders, the volunteers will all have days they sign up on a calendar to be on call.

Team - Responder William McGough, group lead Rob Ostler, responder Mark Goddard, responder Steve Harding, responder Zoe Longstaff, and responder Zuzana Krskova (Image: Witham Community First Responders)

The team will normally be based from home and if there is an emergency, the on-shift members will receive a phone call from the East of England Ambulance service’s control room, and head to the scene.

The first responders group will deal with category one calls such as cardiac arrests, allergic reactions, elderly falls, and anyone that requires immediate attention, issuing basic life support before the ambulance crew arrives.

Will said: “We attend before the ambulance, so we can attend and be there within minutes compared to an ambulance.

“Say if someone isn’t breathing on the high street, we can get there first and provide oxygen.

“If there is an emergency and we’re the closest to the location, we can attend.

“We often got to incidents where elderly people have fallen or have things like chest pains.

“We’ll tend to the casualty first, complete an observation, we can take blood pressure, we can then hand over the information to the ambulance crew."

Will has been a Witham resident all his life and was inspired to join as a volunteer when his grandfather was ill and received support from first responders.

However, due to the covid pandemic, it was only last year he officially became a member of the team.

The role can be difficult but is so worth it according to Will.

He said: “It is a tough role, you will see people sadly pass away from time to time, but at least you’ve gone out there and tried your best to save them.

“The average response time for cardiac arrest is seven minutes, but we could potentially cut that down.

“Every minute counts.”

Courageous - William McGough with a first responder kit (Image: Witham Community First Responders)

Last year saw a large expansion for the team, going from only having two members to six.

The team wants to expand even further but requires support from the public and local businesses to do so.

The main priority is to find a space for the team to train, they must undergo monthly medical refresher courses, and now they are a larger team, they cannot join their Chelmsford counterparts like they used to.

The Witham team also only have one kit that gets passed around from team member to member, so they would like to get another.

This life saving kit contains a defibrillator, blood pressure monitors, thermometers, a responder phone, dressing for bleedings, items for resuscitation, and many other pieces of equipment.

All equipment is provided to the group by the ambulance service, but there is a growing list of things needed as the team expands.

Life-saving equipment - The items which can be found in a first responder kit (Image: Witham First Responders)

If anyone can donate to the volunteer group, it is advised to email withamcfrgroup@gmail.com.

Now, Will is also urging more volunteers to join the dedicated and caring team.

Anyone interested will need to undertake and earn a Level 3 Award for First Responders on Scene: Ambulance Service Community Responder qualification, and there are many other perks to it.

He said: “You learn new skills that could save someone’s life, you go out to people and they really need you.

“You meet interesting people and there is a lot of satisfaction in the role.

“You are making a difference in someone’s life.

“You can still do it from your home, it’s just when you’re needed, you’ll be called out.

“The only thing they ask for is that you need a valid driver’s licence and to be 18 or over.”

To find out more, head to tinyurl.com/4khj3p7e.