First responder’s crowd-funding appeal to buy a car

Effie with her former First Responder car

A long-serving Community First Responder has launched a crowd-funding appeal for a replacement car so that she can react rapidly to life-threatening emergencies along the Wrexham-Shropshire border.

Effie Cadwallader, who is now responding for the Welsh Ambulance Service, is still covering some of the same area, but is without a scheme car.

“First responders receive no funding from any official source,” she explained. “As volunteers, we must raise sufficient money to pay for all our uniform and equipment.

“Previously, when I volunteered with a neighbouring ambulance service, I managed to raise enough to finance a car, and with the help of local businesses and private donations, the running costs were covered.

“Now that I am with Wales, I miss the former car I was using and I’m hoping the communities I serve will give me their support.”

Over the years, Effie has attended more than 3,000 emergency call-outs, and been highly-praised for her dedicated service to the local communities around the border area.

As a member of the Wrexham Rural First Responders team, all volunteers responding for the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust, she still attends calls in her home village of St Martins and the surrounding communities, while her “patch” now extends to include Chirk and Llangollen, the Ceiriog Valley, Overton, Penley, Bettisfield and the outskirts of Ellesmere.

“Having a dedicated car with high-viz markings is an absolute boon,” she said. “Without blue lights, the striking livery can help with ease of passage, and eccentric parking at an emergency is forgiven. It keeps the CFR much safer, and seeing the car`s arrival is a huge relief to the patient.”

Effie has set a target of £10,000 with the help of the on-line GoFundMe page https://www.gofundme.com/f/effies-community-first-responder-car, and the group is also looking into sources of match-funding. In addition to the purchase price, an extra £1,000 must be found to cover the cost of livery and insurance, plus another £1,000 a year for running costs, including the road fund licence, servicing and MOT.

“The car would not belong to me personally, but to the Wrexham Rural CFR group is strong, growing, well organised and well managed. There are over 30 active CFRs in the group.

“I anticipate that a car would be booked on with us for several hours a day, seven days a week, as has always been the case.

“Having a dedicated car means a faster and more efficient response to calls. It can be loaded up and ready to go, with all the equipment required on a daily basis so no need to transfer equipment from car to car and risk leaving behind something essential.

“A dedicated car would also make it easier to transport around the manikins and training defibrillators used by CFRs when delivering Defibrillator Awareness courses across the Wrexham and North Shropshire regions.”

Community First Responders are trained by the ambulance service and deployed to attend 999 medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, strokes, choking, diabetic and other life-threatening incidents. They will usually be the first on-scene to assess the patient and begin treatment until the professional crew arrives.

Unpaid volunteers like Effie receive excellent on-going training from WAST plus consumables such as oxygen, trauma bandages and medical essentials, but they must raise the money themselves to fund all other equipment such as kit bags, defibrillators and uniforms.

Along with other WAST CFRs, Effie has been responding throughout the Covid Crisis both to emergencies and as a member of the ‘Falls Van’ team, which has attended more than 300 unhurt fallers across North Wales, using specialised equipment to help them up again, checking them over, and summoning other resources as required, keeping shielding patients safe and freeing up the emergency ambulances for higher priority calls.

Effie would be immensely grateful for contributions to the CFR Car Appeal.

To make a donation via Go Fund Me please go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/effies-community-first-responder-caror information about donating by cheque or BACs, please contact Effie at aloevera13@outlook.com 

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The James Lambert Singer sang at St Martins Institute on Friday 13th October2017. What a treat for the ears, so relaxed, gentle and smooth. Would I want to spend another couple of hours listening to them, you bet! 

Many tanks to all the singers and a special thanks to Mira their conductress. 

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St Martins Brownies

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