A new community group in Clonakilty has been set up to help respond and treat people in the locality who have a medical emergency Mary Harney TD, Minister for Health and Children officially launched The ‘Clonakilty Community First Responder’ group (CFR), in association with the HSE Ambulance Service last month.
Now, when someone dials 999 or 1 12 for an incident such as a cardiac arrest, stroke or sudden collapse in the Clonakilty area, the Responders will automatically be contacted by the HSE Ambulance Control, so that they may assist the situation if they are available, at the same time that the ambulance personnel are alerted.
With 70 per cent of cardiac arrests occurring outside of hospital, the response of the local CFR is crucial as they can get to the patient very quickly and can, therefore, increase the patient’s chances of survival. The CFRs have been trained by a HSE CFR instructor (HSE Ambulance Service) and can perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), operate an automatic external defibrillator (AED) and administer aspirin and oxygen to patients in need of medical attention.