Page Editor: Paul Neate

                                                             Page last Reviewed: 09 Jan 2024

First Responders

Community First Responders are local volunteers who live, or work, within the community and are trained by North West Ambulance Service to attend certain emergency 999 calls.

First Responders will provide emergency first aid, until an ambulance arrives. The ambulance service aim to arrive at an emergency within 8 minutes, but that is impossible to achieve in a rural location like ours, where the average time for an ambulance to get here in recent years was around 41 minutes. That's why First Responders are called out at the same time as the ambulance and are generally on scene within a few minutes, ready to provide emergency first aid till the ambulance or paramedic arrives.

Currently there are 8 local volunteers in the Glenridding/Patterdale First Responder Group. We train in the evening once a month (usually third Monday) and are always seeking additional volunteers. 

If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please contact Paul Neate (Team Leader) on 017684 82284.

To learn about North West Ambulance Service First Responders, click here.

Public Access Defibrillators

Now in Glenridding, Patterdale and Hartsop

Thanks to generous grants and support from Patterdale Parish Council, the LDNPA Communities Fund and Cumbria Fire Service, Glenridding First Responders have been able to facilitate 3 Community Public Access Defibrillators (CPADs); one outside the Glenridding Health Centre, one outside Patterdale School and the other outside the Langton Adventure Centre in Hartsop. 

There are already CPAD's in Pooley Bridge, Watermillock, Matterdale and Dockray. 

Local First Responder team leader Paul Neate said ‘Many victims can be saved if people recognise what has happened, call an ambulance without delay, then perform basic CPR and use a Defibrillator to try and restore the heart’s normal rhythm'. 

Whilst the Defibrillators are in locked cabinets they are there for anyone to use in an emergency. The access code will be provided by the 999 operator when an ambulance is called. Every second counts in a cardiac arrest and the sooner a Defibrillator is used the greater the chances of survival. It can take an ambulance over half an hour to reach a rural area like ours. Local First Responders carrying defibrillators can generally be on the scene within a few minutes. 

Anyone interested in learning more about the use this equipment, please contact Paul Neate (Glenridding First Responders Team Leader) who will arrange a demonstration.