Community First Responders appeal for volunteers in the Aughnacloy area

On Thursday 22nd February the Community First Responders held an information evening in the community hall in Aughnacloy. It has to be said the event was surprisingly poorly attended by people from the locality but that may well be due to the same apprehensions I had about going. I was worried that I’d be asked to help with situations that I wouldn’t be comfortable with like road traffic accidents or be unable to help the patient and watch someone lose their life. During the course of the evening some of my fears were relieved as the CFR group explained what would be expected from us if we volunteered, the fear of not being able to help someone to recover remains but what’s worse, to try but be unable to help someone or not to try at all?

Eamon Casey is a man I’ve known for many years and has been part of the Community First Responders since its conception so I asked Eamon to do a short video to explain what it’s all about and what would be expected of you if you volunteer to be a responder.

If you think you would like to help save lives in our community please get in touch and volunteer, currently myself (Mark Wilson) and John Cuddy have put ourselves forward to be trained as responders but we need a lot more people to make this work in the area. Just get in touch and let me know you’re interested and I will keep in touch with CFR regarding our numbers and keep you informed of any updates, training etc. To get in touch you can use the contact form on this website, send me a message on Facebook, give me a call or send a text to 07769664833 or just stop me on the street.

While I was chatting to Eamon for the other video I was saying how we have a defibrillator in the village but even I found someone on the street I wouldn’t have a clue how it worked or what to do with it and so he kindly offered to do a short explanation of what to do in that situation, we hope that by watching this you may be able to save a life if necessary even in your own home as time is one of the biggest factors for a patients survival chances. It would obviously be much better for all concerned if you were properly trained and we’re working with the Ambulance Service and the Community First Responders to get that training in Aughnacloy, it would be even better for the whole community if you were able to volunteer as a first responder.