Tuesday 11th November 2014 – 1.20pm – Chris Kowalik.
Since July 2011, Telford Street Pastors have been ensuring the safety of people out at night in Telford.
Since last month they also have the ability to provide Basic Life Support to someone suffering a cardiac arrest after receiving training from West Midlands Ambulance Service and getting a defibrillator.
While out working at night, the pastors could be asked by the ambulance service control room to attend a confirmed case of cardiac arrest within a five mile radius.
Telford Street Pastors is one of the latest groups to have a defibrillator (a device that could restart the heart of someone who suffers a cardiac arrest) and be trained in its use.
The group’s initiative was recognised by West Midlands Ambulance Service’s ‘Excellence in the Community Awards’ ceremony at Walsall Football Club on Thursday 6th November. The Pastors were presented with a Community Initiative Award.
Speaking on the night of the awards, Reverend Keith Osmund-Smith, Lead Co-ordinator of Telford Street Pastors, explained why they decided to take the step of learning these lifesaving skills: “To make our skillset much more holistic. We are all qualified first-aiders, we can all do CPR, so it seemed to me to be a natural progression, in consultation with West Midlands Ambulance Service in Shropshire to move on to training with defibrillators – and that’s exactly what has happened. We had our first call on Sunday morning (at ten past one in the morning), so it works!”
Pictured above at ‘Excellence in the Community Awards’: Rev. Keith Osmund-Smith and Telford Street Pastors with WMAS Chief Executive Anthony Marsh (right) and Ian Painter from the British Heart Foundation (left).
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