South Western Ambulance Charity receives £142k boost to help with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests
The charity is one of the first NHS ambulance charities in the UK to receive funding from NHS Charities Together through its £1.85 million Community Resilience Grants Fund in partnership with Omaze. The funding was generated through Omaze's Million Pound House Draw, which raised an incredible £2.6 million to support the vital work of NHS Ambulance Charities in the UK
Working with 13 NHS ambulance charities across the country, the fund is designed to build community resilience and equip more people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to respond in an emergency.
Currently, only one in ten people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive to return home to their families. However, rapid action-including early recognition, calling for help, CPR, and defibrillation-can significantly improve survival rates. Timely access to defibrillation, for instance, can increase survival chances to more than 50%.
Knowing CPR and where your nearest defibrillator is located could mean the difference between life and death. By learning these essential skills, members of the public can help provide immediate, lifesaving care while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Zoe Larter, Head of the South Western Ambulance Charity, said: We are incredibly grateful to NHS Charities Together and Omaze for their generous support and funding. This grant will allow us to strengthen our work in equipping communities with the skills and resources needed to respond effectively in emergencies. By improving access to defibrillators, providing essential training, supporting our volunteer Community First Responders and with particular focus on ensuring health equity, we can help to save more lives across the South West.
The funding from NHS Charities Together will enable the South Western Ambulance Charity to strengthen community resilience and preparedness across the South West by funding the below initiatives:
- Community Response Vehicles: Two new Community Response Vehicles have already been purchased for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust's (SWASFT) volunteer Community First Responders. These vehicles will allow volunteers to reach patients quickly and provide vital support before an ambulance arrives.
- Defibrillator registration and accessibility: The grant will support a new programme to increase the number of registered community defibrillators in the region. With funding support from the South Western Ambulance Charity, SWASFT has already assisted over 700 schools across the South West with the correct installation and registration of defibrillators, with 84% of schools now registered on The Circuit - the national defibrillator network, which provides NHS ambulance services with real-time information about defibrillators across the UK.
- Community Ambassador Programme: The funding will help establish a new Community Ambassador volunteer role. These volunteers will be trained as Basic Life Support (BLS) instructors, enabling them to deliver standardised CPR and defibrillation training with the aim of increasing confidence and competence, ensuring more people are prepared to act effectively in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest situation.
Jane Whichello, Head of Volunteering at SWASFT, said: Our dedicated volunteers at SWASFT, including our Community First Responders, play a vital role in providing early lifesaving interventions in emergencies. This funding will enable us to support our volunteers with additional resources, ensuring they can reach patients quickly and provide immediate care. In addition, with the creation of our new Community Ambassador volunteer role, we're hoping this will empower more people across the region to learn CPR and defibrillation skills, creating stronger, more resilient communities.
Community Ambassadors will also be encouraging those attending CPR and defibrillation awareness sessions to sign up to the GoodSAM app, which connects those who are trained, to deliver CPR with nearby cardiac arrests, further enhancing our community's ability to support swiftly and effectively in emergencies.
The South Western Ambulance Charity plays a crucial role in supporting the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) and this year, will be celebrating its 30th anniversary. Since its establishment, the charity has worked alongside the Ambulance Service and communities in the South West, helping to enhance care and support for patients in critical moments.
In the past year, the charity has funded outdoor space improvements at over 50 ambulance stations to support staff. It has also launched a fundraising appeal to raise £210,000 to purchase, convert, and equip seven new Community Response Vehicles for volunteer Community First Responders to assist patients across the region.
Jon Goodwin, Head of Grants at NHS Charities Together, said: We are delighted to award this grant to the South Western Ambulance Charity as part of our Community Resilience Grants Fund. The project has the potential to make a huge difference to the people living in the South West by helping them recognise the early signs of a life-threatening emergency and how to respond. In addition to helping improve chances of survival, by educating people to know how to respond in a health emergency - or even prevent it from happening in the first place - we can also help reduce pressure on the NHS, which has never been more important. We look forward to continuing our work with the South Western Ambulance Charity and other organisations across the UK to help the NHS go further for everyone.
For more information about South Western Ambulance Charity, please visit the South Western Ambulance Charity website.