First aid supplies come in useful in a range of scenarios and they are important as a way of reducing people’s suffering and saving their lives. A scheme recently launched in Northamptonshire involves such provisions. Under the terms of the initiative, local fire fighters are providing support to the ambulance service.
Northamptonshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service has teamed up with the ambulance service Emergency Operations Centre as part of a co-responding scheme.
Fire personnel volunteer to be called to particular types of medical emergency, including heart attacks and breathing difficulties. These individuals use vehicles that are equipped with a range of provisions, including defibrillators and oxygen masks.
So that they know how to use such devices and are capable of treating patients, such individuals go through a five-day training course, which includes written and practical exams.
Commenting on the initiative, Councillor Andre Gonzalez de Savage said: “This is a true example of an effective partnership, seeing skills and resources shared to enhance the service being offered to people in the county.
“Ambulance crews will still attend all medical emergencies but there are times when a trained firefighter can reach an incident sooner, and this means they can administer life-saving emergency medical care as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, chief fire officer Martyn Emberson is among those to have received the medical training and he has already been called out on a number of occasions. Commenting on the scheme, he said: “This is voluntary, as giving medical treatment is not part of a fire fighter’s role, but I’m doing this for the same reason that I joined the fire service – to save lives.”
He went on to point out that in emergency situations, a fast response is crucial. He also noted that the additional training being received by fire personnel means that they have more skills to use at the scenes of fires and road accidents.
These days, it is easier than ever before for organisations to source first aid equipment and the process can be completed quickly and straightforwardly online.