Legal News

Cornwall emergency services are combining to provide an improved response to medical emergencies, with four qualified on call firefighters from St Ives Community Fire Station providing a co-response to medical emergencies, in partnership with South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).

The four firefighters will take on their extra duties having completed months of training – and while continuing to carry out their firefighting duties.

SWASFT will identify the emergencies that are appropriate for the co-responders to attend – and they will then be despatched within their local communities to provide care until an ambulance arrives.

The co-responders have all been trained in basic life support procedures and the use of an automatic external defibrillator and oxygen therapy. It is thought they will respond to around 160 medical emergency calls a year.

Similar schemes have been running since 1999, serving the communities of St Keverne, Mullion, St Mawes, Helston and Polruan in Cornwall.

The schemes help ensure that prompt care can be given to patients having life-threatening emergencies in isolated areas – and is part of a wider programme of work across blue light partners to deliver collaborative projects throughout Cornwall.

The co-responders undergo training and assessment with SWASFT on a regular basis to ensure their skills remain up-to-date.

Chief Fire Officer for Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety Service, Paul Walker, said:

“We’re very happy to be expanding our work with South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust to provide additional critical medical emergency cover in St Ives and the surrounding area.

“The Fire and Rescue Service has an important role in Cornwall’s health and social care integration plans as part of the Cornwall Devolution Deal.

“Working closely with our emergency service colleagues from South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust supports our ‘One Public Sector’ approach to deliver efficient and improved services – including emergency medical response to residents, businesses and visitors to Cornwall.”

SWASFT Responder Manager, Robert Horton, added:

“Just a few seconds can make all the difference when it comes to saving someone’s life, so this collaboration between SWASFT and the St Ives community firefighters not only appropriately makes use of available staff and resources – but helps deliver even better care to residents and visitors in St Ives, by arriving in those valuable moments ahead of an ambulance.”

Cornwall Council’s Portfolio Holder for Communities, Geoff Brown, said:

“For 17 years, the Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety Service’s co-responders have been saving lives in our rural areas by looking after people until an ambulance is able to arrive on the scene.

“These latest four recruits will provide an invaluable service to St Ives and the surrounding area.”

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