New army of 60,000 Life-savers (thanks help) to a little from Captain Tom
SOME of the £39million raised by Captain Sir Tom Moore will be spent on a legion of 60,000 volunteers to help desperately ill people before ambulances can get to them.
Trusts nationwide will get a share of £7million from NHS Charities Together, which benefited when Capt Sir Tom did a sponsored walk of his 80ft garden. The windfall will be used to recruit and train community first responders.
They’ll be taught how to give critical first aid within the first few minutes of an emergency, when every second can count.
Among the skills they will learn is how to use a defibrillator to restore a heart’s rhythm when someone has had a heart attack.
Cash will be also used to buy first responder cars, equipment like thermometers, automatic blood pressure monitors, electrocardiograms and pulse oximeters to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
Lifting chairs and cushions will be provided for patients who have fallen but not badly injured themselves – reducing the complications linked to lying on the ground for a long time.
Survive
Ellie Orton, chief executive of NHS Charities Together, which raised £150million with its Covid19 appeal, said: “If there is one thing we have learnt throughout this long year it’s that we all have a role to play in protecting the nation’s health.
“Volunteers can often reach the parts the NHS cannot on its own, particularly in our communities.
“That’s why we are using some of the money donated by the public over the last year to support ambulance services and help them recruit and train a new army of community first responders.
“Having trained volunteers in our community to quickly come to people’s aid will save and prolong lives and reduce the pressure on ambulance crews and hospitals.”
Heart and circulatory diseases cause more than one quarter of all deaths in the UK – more than 160,000 deaths a year, equal to 450 a day or one every three minutes. Each year 100,000 people are admitted to hospital with heart
attacks. But 1.4 million people alive today have survived the ordeal.
The cash means someone’s chances of staying alive if they are not breathing, are suffering chronic chest pains, are unconscious or having a seizure will be significantly boosted. Evidence shows
patients who are defibrillated and given CPR before they reach hospital have up to a 50 per cent better chance of surviving.
The first responders – on call around the clock – will be equipped with defibrillators and will help train other local people to
help those in cardiac arrest. Money will also be used to train schools and community groups on how to do CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
There will be funding too to meet the needs of patients with mental health issues, including training packages for frontline ambulance clinicians to better equip them for complex and challenging calls.
The money has been made available to NHS charities based with 13 ambulance trusts covering the whole of the UK. Today five chari
ties will be told they are getting cash. These are the London Ambulance Service Charity, North West Ambulance Service Charity, South Central Ambulance Charity, South Western Ambulance Charity, and Yorkshire Ambulance Service Charity.
NHS Charities Together represents 241 individual NHS charities in hospitals, mental health trusts, ambulance trusts and community health trusts across the UK.
Swelled
Its Covid-19 Urgent Appeal has already allocated £120million across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Its coffers were swelled by the fundraising heroics of the late Captain Sir Tom last year.
His garden walks raised £33million, leaping to £39million when gift aid was added.The legend’s gift to the nation continues to help seriously ill patients and those fighting the greatest crisis in the history of the health service.
It has already funded counselling services and helplines to support the mental health of NHS staff.
His money has also provided bereavement support for families who have lost loved ones to coronavirus. On top of that it has allowed hospitals to buy hundreds of iPads so that anxious and isolated patients can stay connected with their family and friends.
Before his death aged 100 last month, Capt Sir Tom told the Daily Express, his favourite newspaper, “I hope we continue to recognise and support our frontline heroes of the NHS. And indeed all the key workers who have worked so tirelessly to see us through. Tomorrow will be a good day.”