The volunteers who’ve taught thousands how to save someone’s life
8:22am Wednesday 23rd July 2008
FOR 20 years a Worcestershire volunteer group has been teaching life-saving skills to the community. In that time, Heartstart Malvern has been actively involved in promoting its life-saving skills in schools, work-places and village halls, teaching thousands of people vital emergency skills.
Chairman Vince Williams has been involved with the group since 1989, two months after it was started by Malvern doctor Mick Colquhoun and Roger Job, who wanted to educate people how to recognise the signs of potentially serious illness and to cope in emergency situations.
In the beginning, members of the ambulance service followed by other volunteers helped the group grow – and soon similar groups were being set up countrywide.
In 1995 the group was also given the backing by the British Heart Foundation, which set up Heartstart UK.
Mr Williams, who regularly travels across the county to teach these skills, is keen to show how important their work has been.
He said: “We started taking our expertise out to people, providing the training whenever they wanted it. It soon spread to the greater Malvern area and out to towns and villages in the county, including Ledbury. We have taught thousands of people how to save a life, which we are very proud of.”
The Malvern-based team is the only one in the UK that has been teaching Heartstart for 20 years continuously.
Mr Williams believes the group has been so successful because of the dedication of the volunteers and the fact they go out to the public to teach them, rather than expect people to go to them.
He said: “We don’t expect people to come to a fixed venue like a school room. We go anywhere and it’s a very relaxed atmosphere. We take our equipment and teach people in their own environment, in the home, work, or leisure place.”
Each session lasts up to two hours, during which time people are taught emergency life support, including chest compressions, choking, and recognising and treating a heart attack or life-threatening bleeding.
“The most important thing we teach is knowing when to get help and what information to give, then performing CPR, which can save vital minutes,” said Mr Williams.
“It’s about having the confidence to do that, which is the skills we try and pass on,” said Mr Williams, who said he believed people should refresh these skills on a regular basis.
“It is you, the bystander, who gives the casualty the best possible chance of survival, and that is what we have been teaching for the past 20 years,” he said.
A Healthy Hearts Roadshow is being organised in conjunction with BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester for Saturday, August 9, between 10.30am and 4pm at Malvern Theatres to mark the occasion. People are invited to join them for a number of life-saving workshops and stands, including the chance to have your blood pressure tested.
In the evening Heartstart Malvern will have a reunion with past and present members.
For more information about Heartstart or the roadshow, contact Mr Williams on 01905 796270.