Treacherous conditions fail to halt first-aider (From Oxford Mail)

Treacherous conditions fail to halt first-aider

9:30am Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in Countywide

TREACHEROUS conditions failed to stop Community First Responder Godfrey Smith from coming to the aid of a colleague.

The 63-year-old, pictured right, travelled a total of 120 miles to get an ambulance control room staff member to his 12-hour shift when snow hit.

The dad-of-one left his Faringdon home at 5.30pm on Friday in a 4x4 used by community responders.

He travelled to Matt Higgins’ Carterton home, then to South Central Ambulance Service’s Bicester control room and back to Faringdon.

He then repeated the journey 12 hours later to pick up Mr Higgins and take him home.

Mr Smith said: “If the staff cannot get in, especially the emergency department, that leaves the control room depleted and I knew the control room was going to be busy with these conditions.

“He couldn’t have got out, his whole estate was a sheet of ice.”

Community First Responders are volunteers who are trained to attend emergency calls and provide care until the ambulance arrives. Alan Wade, 29, neighbour and fellow Community First Responder, accompanied Mr Smith on Friday evening.

Dick Tracey, indirect resource manager for South Central Ambulance Service, praised their actions and said: “It is just amazing really.”

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