Providing first aid training & equipment for Wells

WELLS ROTARY

414 MILE CHARITY BIKE RIDE

FROM ST CUTHBERTS CHURCH WELLS TO DURHAM CATHEDRAL WHICH IS DEDICATED TO ST. CUTHBERT

Well we are off again! A few brave souls from Wells Rotary Club and their friends are going to attempt a sponsored cycle ride. This builds on the trip they did a few years ago from Wells Cathedral to Notre Dame Cathedral. Due to your generosity Rotary raised thousands of pounds to provide defibrillators in the city.

Following the historic coronation of King Charles Ⅲ we thought it would be good to attempt to cycle the 414 miles between the Dioceses of the two Bishops who stood on either side of our King.

The money raised will be primarily used to provide emergency first aid training and to supply the town with equipment to support this initiative. Any excess funds will be donated to the charities supporting this project and other Rotary Projects.

We are passionate about ensuring our high street is safe and reducing the number of non-emergency calls to 999.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and for any support you can offer.

From Angie, Rich, Fi, Jeff, et al

Here is Angela's (our next Rotary president's) story.

MY STORY

I was walking my 11-month-old grandson to the park one September afternoon; the sun was shining and it was a perfect day to be out. For some reason he was not himself, so we headed home stopping on route to top up his water.

As I walked out of the shop with my grandson in his pushchair he started convulsing. He had never done this before and I did not know what was happening to him. His lips and fingertips went blue, I took him out of his pushchair to make sure he was not choking on anything. He then went limp in my arms, I panicked and ran out into the street shouting for help.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by the excellent citizens of Wells, one of whom had dialled 999. By this time my grandson was conscious, still limp but breathing. I had placed him on his side in the recovery position on the pavement, now talking to the 999 call handler and feeling reassured to have professional support.

I was advised not to move my grandson and to keep him in the recovery position until the ambulance arrived. It did not feel right leaving such a young child on a cold hard floor while waiting for an ambulance, which I later learned could have taken a few hours to arrive.

Two community police officers cycled by and stopped to ask if everything was alright. I told them that we were waiting for an ambulance. They informed me that they were on their way to attend to a lady who had also fallen in the high street and who was also lying on the floor!

I was relieved when a retired doctor walked by and offered to take us to the local health centre. As I was leaving the community police returned and offered to call the health centre and forewarn them of our arrival.

It was fortunate they did because when we arrived at the health centre we were told that it was very unorthodox to go there as they do not deal with emergencies, but as the community police had called ahead they would deal with us.

It turns out my grandson had experienced a febrile seizure and fortunately recovered very quickly.

Over the last few months I helped a couple of Wells’ elderly citizens who had taken a tumble. This coupled with my own personal experience made me realise that people of all ages may need assistance in the Wells high street. Once 999 is called the advice given is to wait (often on the floor) for an ambulance for what could turn out to be hours before help arrives. I would like to improve on this outcome.

Understandably, like myself, most people who stop to help will call 999 which may not always be necessary. Our goal is to organise emergency first aid training to as many people as possible, and to place emergency packs all through the city. We will then raise awareness across the community on how these can be accessed.

We want our first aiders to feel comfortable in assessing an individual to ensure that they can be relocated to a safe warm environment before an ambulance is called if indeed one is necessary.

With this in place we are hopeful to reduce the number of incidents where the individual (often elderly) could be waiting for hours in the cold, rain, snow or heat and suffer more from these elements than from their initial injury/illness.

I believe that with the help and guidance of other charities such as St. Johns Ambulance we could put in place a basic emergency first aid system in our high street.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and for any support you can offer.

From Angie, Rich, Fi, Jeff, et al