Whiteparish First Responders consist of a team of trained volunteers who work under the auspices of Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The team takes it in turns to provide emergency health care and advanced First Aid for people living in the village and its surrounding area. The team are all volunteers and they log on as and when they can.

If you would like to know more details, ring Diane Browne on 01794 884381

Congratulations to Neil Orr and Berny Higgins who have finished their training and are now 'on the road', helping to provide emergency medical cover to Whiteparish and the surrounding area.

It's interesting and gratifying to see that over the past year volunteer Responders attended 101 incidents and, between them, gave 3982 hours of their time to the community.

The group's aim to install a community access defibrillator at a central point in the village is coming closer to reality. In addition to the generous donations received to date, Wiltshire Council has made funds available to help finance the project.

A community access defibrillator is designed to be used by ANYONE in the event of a cardiac emergency. Training is not necessary, though we will be holding familiarisation sessions for anyone who is interested.

We'll keep you informed. And thanks again for the donations.

Whiteparish Community First Responders attended the Helicopter support unit at Devizes on 25th January to see how that facility works in detail. Having been to three incidents in the locality where the helicopter was required to deal with the situation it was extremely useful to look around the facility. Whilst hoping that no-one locally needs the services of the helicopter it is nice to know it is available!

Unfortunately, Wendy Hedley has been forced by ill health to retire from her position as coordinator of Whiteparish First Responders. On 12th October, Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust Locality Director, Paul Birkett-Wendes and Community Response Manager Julia Doel presented Wendy with a Commendation from the Service’s Chief Officer. All members of Whiteparish Responders were present at the ceremony, along with Wendy's daughter Lara and son-in-law Lee.

A paraphrased version of the citation reads as follows:

Chief Officer’s Commendation

Wendy Hedley has been the cornerstone of the Whiteparish Community First Responders during recent years, co-ordinating the team and working tirelessly to raise the profile of the scheme in the area through personal networking and by regular articles in the parish magazine. Wendy was behind an awareness evening held earlier in the year, regularly chased the group for information she could publicise and provided a valuable link between the group and Great Western Ambulance Service.

A member of the group said of Wendy, ‘She is incredibly modest and always proclaims to ‘do nothing’ and that it’s us who do ‘all of the work’, when actually she does all the things we don’t like doing allowing us to concentrate on our duties.’ Due to ill health, Wendy has reluctantly resigned from her role as co-ordinator and every member of the scheme will miss her.

For her commitment to patient care, the Chief Officer is pleased to present a Commendation.

The Whiteparish Community First Responder group is very grateful to everyone (individuals and organisations) that has made contributions to help us to continue to provide an emergency service to the village. As you are aware we aim to deliver a high level of cover (on a voluntary basis), but it is not always possible for us to be on call 24/7. With this in mind, we are currently exploring the possibility of using the funds that have been donated to install and maintain a community access defibrillator at a central point in the village.

These units are designed to be used by anyone in the event of a cardiac emergency. Training is not necessary, although we plan to hold familiarisation sessions for anyone who is interested. We will keep everyone informed. Thank you again for the donations.

After completing their training successfully, two more volunteers have recently qualified as CFRs. All being well they will start their duties in October.

WHITEPARISH COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS ONE OF THE THREE GROUPS FOR THE GREEN TOKEN SCHEME AT WAITROSE IN ROMSEY FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE, 2011. (The three token bins are in the shop near the exit/entrance to the car park.).

The more tokens, the more money is raised.
Any funds that we raise now will be put towards the 24/7 defibrillator access scheme for Whiteparish. Please note that tokens from the Salisbury branch can be used in the Romsey branch bins.

The team were able to welcome a number of Whiteparish residents to our first open evening. An introduction was made which included demonstrations by various members of the team using the new defibrillator training equipment which had been donated by a Whiteparish resident. The Wiltshire Responder Co-ordinator attended the evening and was able to answer questions on the wider aspects of the county scheme.

The open evening was arranged so that residents could be made aware of the first responder’s role in the community, and also what each householder could do to help. One big problem the team have is finding the house they have been called out to, particularly at night.

Please ensure that house name and numbers are visible from the road, and that all foliage is cut back so it can be seen clearly. Precious minutes can be saved if the team and ambulance crews can find the house quickly, which may mean the difference between life and death.

The team will be at the village fete where we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

April 2011 was another busy month for the team when 40% of hours were covered. There were no days when there was no cover at all.