Community Activities:
In addition to our Responder role and our involvement in the Public Access Defibrillator network we also aim to promote the importance of Basic Life Support (BLS) knowledge, in particular the first three elements of the "Chain of Survival” - the importance of early recognition that someone is in cardiac arrest and calling for help, early CPR and early defibrillation.
To support this aim we take part in a number of other community based events within Porthcawl. These include:-
RESTART-A-HEART DAY - This is a national event that takes place every October and is supported by a number of organisations including The British Heart Foundation, The Resuscitation Council UK and several Ambulance Service Trusts including the Welsh Ambulance Service. The event involves staff from several organisations, including the NHS, Police, Fire and Ambulance Services going into local Comprehensive Schools and teaching pupils CPR skills. For more information on this event click on the following link : BHF-Restart a Heart
SHOCTOBER - This is a Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST) annual campaign held throughout the month of October that aims to teach Primary School pupils the appropriate use of the 999 emergency system as well as practical life saving skills including using the Recovery Position, CPR, dealing with choking and raising awareness of defibrillators. For more information on this event click on the following link : WAST Shoctober page
DEFIBUARY - This is a Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST) annual campaign, supported by other organisations including St John Ambulance (Cymru), Save-a-Life (Cymru) and The British Heart Foundation that is held throughout the month of February. "Defibuary" aims to teach members of the local community life saving skills based on the 'Chain of Survival' model. This including identifying when a patient is in cardiac arrest, how to carry out CPR, how to use a defibrillator and how to place a patient into the recovery position. For more information on this event click on the following link : WAST Defibuary
RNLI RESCUEFEST - This is a annual event organised and run by the Porthcawl RNLI Station designed to demonstrate the work of the various emergency and rescues services, including (amongst many others) the RNLI, Police, Fire, Ambulance, Coast Guard, Mountain Rescue, St John Ambulance and the Porthcawl Coast Watch team. We 'join forces' with the local WAST Ambulance Station staff on this event and, as well as demonstrations around CPR and using defibrillators, people are able to go onto an operational Ambulance and see the equipment available on these vehicles to Paramedics and Medical Technicians.
CPRathon Challenge - This was a joint event that took place in 2023 and was organised by Porthcawl Comprehensive School and the Porthcawl Community First Responders designed to promote Basic Life Support (BLS) within the school and the wider community. It was a 12hr event supported by ‘Save-a-Life (Cymru) and operational staff from the Welsh Ambulance Service in which CPR was always taking place at it is estimated that over 1500 people did at least 2 minutes of CPR during the event - including the students and staff of the Porthcawl Comprehensive School, several members of the ‘blue light’ services, Cub groups, Lifesaving Teams, Football Teams, Choirs (to name but a few) plus many individuals that turned up to support the day. The High Sheriff of Mid Glamorgan also called in and had a go.
JOINT TRAINING EVENTS - we also work with other community based volunteer groups to promote co-ordinated emergency response within Porthcawl. For example in October of 2022 we braved the elements to take part in a very successful (and enjoyable) joint training event with our Community First Responders colleagues from the Cornelly, Pyle & Kenfig and Maesteg Teams working alongside members of the Porthcawl Lifeguards Club at Rhych Point. We have also worked with the local RNLI, Rest Bay Lifeguards and Port Talbot Coastguard on joint training events
We have also attend dozens of other community events, including Church Fetes, After School Clubs, Brownies Groups, Running Clubs as well as many other clubs, groups and organisations within Porthcawl to give talks on the Porthcawl Community First Responder team and to demonstrate some of the equipment we carry when responding on behalf of the Welsh Ambulance Service. If you would like our team to attend your community event or for current information on our community based activities please visit our FaceBook page by clicking on the Facebook icon below.