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Castle Donington First Responder Wins National Life Saving Award

A member of Castle Donington Community First Responder Scheme (CDCFR) receives national award for saving a passenger's life at East Midlands Airport.

Peter Van Der Wal of Castle Donington Community
First Responders receives SAD Life Saving Award
of a new defibrillatorPeter Van Der Wal has been an operational member of CDCFR for two years during which time he has attended a number of emergency incidents where his skills have been used. None more so than on 7th January 2010 whilst at his place of work.

Peter is a Customer Care Agent at East Midlands Airport and was at work on that particular day, although not on duty as an operational First Responder, nonetheless his skills were urgently required when a male passenger collapsed in the airport terminal.

CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) had been commenced by a fellow passenger and a defibrillator had been brought to the scene. By this time the casualty was in cardiac arrest, which means that his heart had stopped beating, so Peter deployed the defibrillator whilst assisting with CPR.

Two shocks were given, which along with sustained CPR were successful in the casualty's heart regaining a regular rhythm and subsequently regaining consciousness.

An ambulance crew and a doctor were very soon on the scene and all agreed that had it not been for Peter's skill and management of the incident, together with his prompt and decisive action the casualty is unlikely to have survived.

First Responders are often faced with casualties who are in cardiac arrest and whilst the essence of their training is to cope with such incidents, few ever see such a remarkable and positive outcome following their actions.  Peter is an inspiration; not only to other First Responders, but to ordinary untrained people who may well find themselves in a similar situation and who may wonder if they have the confidence to step forward in a time of emergency.

As recognition of this incident, Peter was nominated for an award from SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome) a national charity that helps to prevent premature loss of life and to improve the lives of those adversely affected by cardiac problems.

The charity makes an award to only one nominee each year and in October 2010 Peter received the award of a defibrillator which he has recently presented to Castle Donington Community First Responders.

A new defibrillator costs in excess of £1,300 which is the single most expensive item that a CFR scheme has to purchase as the basis of its emergency response equipment.  For every minute that a patient in cardiac arrest is denied the use of a defibrillator, their chances of survival decrease by 10%, so it is plain to see how important that piece of equipment is to a community.

Castle Donington Community First Responders now have three defibrillators and are currently raising funds for the other items of equipment that are required to support them.

Scheme Co-ordinator Ian Beard explains:

"Thanks to Peter we now have the basis for a third complete set of equipment for our scheme. This comes just as we have welcomed two new members to the team which in turn means that we can now provide a greater level of cover in our community.

"Fundraising and recruitment remain our highest priorities so the past few months have seen real benefits to us. Being a self funded organization we rely entirely upon the generosity of people in the community to provide everything from a small bandage to a defibrillator.

"We are also delighted to welcome two new fully trained members to our team. They join us at a time where we are working hard to fund our third set of operational kit which will give us greater flexibility and enhanced emergency cover to the community.

"All this comes at a time when we are about to embark upon a more streamlined communication system to facilitate faster mobilisation and potentially reaching our patients sooner."

Enquiries about what we do are always welcome and more details can be found on our website www.cdcfr.co.uk

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