Students saddle up to roll out first responder service
UCC students are set to provide a potentially life-saving service in Cork’s university precinct — by bike.
The team behind Ireland’s first student-led community first responder (CFR) group confirmed last night that they hope to go live as a dedicated asset under the National Ambulance Service’s (NAS) 999/112 emergency call system from November 1.
They will also be part of the first CFR group to respond with a defibrillator to cardiac arrest emergencies by bicycle.
The Bike Shed owner, Cillian Read, said he was delighted to donate to the group, and provide regular servicing on, two custom-built high-spec seven-gear mountain bikes.
My own dad died from a heart attack, and an ambulance had to come from the city to West Cork, so I know that speed of response is very important,” said Cillian.
The bikes feature puncture-resistant tyres and emergency services-style reflective strips. The defibrillator has been donated by UCC’s Students Union.
Scheme co-ordinator Daragh Mathews, an emergency medicine trainee at Cork University Hospital (CUH), said a large of team of people has put a lot of work over the last two years into getting the group off the ground.
“We have 35 volunteers already trained up to CFR standard and we hope to go live under the remit of the NAS on November 1,” said Dr Mathews.
We have had huge support from the NAS and the university itself has also been very supportive.
There are dozens of CFR groups around the country whose trained volunteers are dispatched by NAS ambulance control at the same time as an ambulance to incidents of chest pain, breathing difficulty, choking, stroke, and cardiac arrest.
They are trained in CPR and in the use of defibrillators.
Because the on-call volunteers live or work in the area, they can respond within minutes and often arrive on scene before NAS paramedics. And in critical situations where seconds count, their interventions have helped save lives.
UCC’s Emergency Care Society’s CFR group hopes to have up to 40 student volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to 30 and drawn from health care disciplines, including medicine, nursing, and occupational therapy, on its rota when it goes live.
They will be tasked to respond on their bikes to emergency cardiac arrest calls within 1km of the university’s main campus, from the Mardyke and Dennehy’s Cross in the west, to the Lough in the south and St Fin Barre’s Cathedral in the east.
The group will initially be available 24 hours a day, Thursday to Sunday, with two volunteers on-call each shift — 9am to 5pm, and 5pm to 9am.
However, the Emergency Care Society hopes to operate 24/7 soon, said chairwoman Kathryn Lesko.
Dr Mathews said they are one of a handful of CFR groups covering a mainly urban area and all those involved hope it will be seen as a way of UCC students “giving back to the community” around the university.
