The second annual ‘Save a Life Day’ will be held on Saturday 20th May at Sinnott Autos in Wicklow Town from 10am to 2pm.
Save a Life Day, which is organised by Wicklow Rapid Response and Wicklow Town Cardiac First Responders is designed to promote public awareness about the Chain of Survival and the important role that members of the public can play in this Chain of Survival, in order to save a life before the arrival of the professional emergency services.
The initiative also promotes the role of the volunteer Community Cardiac First Responders (CFRs) who respond in their local community and the senior clinical level that the Volunteer Doctor of Wicklow Rapid Response can bring to the Chain of Survival in County Wicklow along with the National Ambulance Service.
Members of the local emergency services and Community First Responders will attend the event along with the Wicklow Rapid Response Doctor.
The Sinnott Autos sponsored Wicklow Rapid Response Skoda Yeti 4WD RRV and its advanced lifesaving equipment will be on display.
Free training in the recognition and management of cardiac arrest, defibrillation and choking will be available to all members of the public who attend.
After the first “Save a Life Day” last year, the Volunteer Wicklow Rapid Response Doctor and National Ambulance Service crews were dispatched to a cardiac arrest in the vicinity. The patient was successfully resuscitated by the team and volunteer members of the public and off duty practitioners who were first on scene.
Since then, Wicklow Rapid Response has been directly involved in a further 9 saves in Wicklow and South Dublin, responding in the Sinnott Skoda Yeti Rapid Response Vehicle to medical, cardiac and trauma emergencies where the doctor is either the nearest resource or the patient would benefit from the clinical skills that WWRR can provide.
Wicklow Rapid Response & Wicklow Town Cardiac First Responders
Sinnott Autos Saturday 20th May 10am to 2pm
· Meet the Volunteer Doctor and Volunteer Responders
· See the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response Vehicle
· See the Lifesaving Equipment the Doctor uses
· Learn how to do CPR
· Use an AED defibrillator
· Find out how to recognise a STROKE and what to do
· Learn how to help a Heart attack victim with chest pain
· Learn how to help someone who is CHOKING
· Make a donation
· Volunteer to be a RESPONDER
· Become a SUPPORTER
Community First Responders such as Wicklow Town CFRs and similar CFR groups are volunteers who live or work in their community and help by providing an early response in the provision of primary lifesaving support to people who have called 999/112 and requested an ambulance because they are dealing with a Cardiac Arrest, Heart Attack (Chest Pain), choking or someone having a Stroke.
The HSE National Ambulance Service Control Centre alerts CFRs when required, and the volunteer responders who are on duty will respond and provide care to the patient till the Ambulance arrives.
All volunteers are trained to become A Cardiac First Responder and they will successfully complete a Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) approved Cardiac First Response course.
Chain of Survival
Sadly over 5,000 people in Ireland die every year in out of hospital cardiac arrests.
For every minute a patient is in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival decrease by 10%. It is essential that members of the public can perform CPR and use a defibrillator in the first few minutes.
The 5 links in the chain of survival are:
· Recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system
· Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with an emphasis on chest compressions
· Rapid defibrillation
· Basic and advanced emergency medical services
· Advanced life support and post-cardiac arrest care
Thanks to the combined efforts of all involved, these links were completed at scene.
Wicklow Rapid Response is a voluntary organisation, which aims to provide near Intensive Care level treatment for our local communities in the pre-hospital environment, where there are life-threatening circumstances. Our volunteer emergency medical Doctor, who specialises in pre-hospital emergency medicine, using the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response vehicle, to rapidly respond is declared as a National Ambulance Service Assets. He is called simultaneously with the Ambulance, when a serious emergency occurs.
