November 2021 - Southwater Christmas Festival
We wanted to thank everyone who visited us at the Southwater Christmas Festival and those who kindly donated to the charity. It was wonderful to see so many people after what seems like such a long time. Congratulations to Sam, the winner of the CPR competition scoring an amazing 99%.
November 2021 - CPR/Defib Training
The team held two CPR/Defib training session at Southwater Sports Club. Hands on experience for all with expert tuition from the CFRs. We’ve trained over 20 potential life savers this month. Well done to everyone for giving up their free time to attend
November 2021 - Fundraising update
Southwater Community First Responders ran a crowdfunding project during October. The intent was to raise money to support the purchase of additional defibrillators for the parish. There are 10 at the moment (the latest was unveiled in September) but there are gaps that need filling. The campaign raised a grand total of £2,090 and the whole team would like to thank everyone in the community who supported the project. However, the hard work starts now. We need to be able to house our community defibrillators somewhere accessible with a reliable power source. We promise to keep you updated with our progress. Well done Southwater!!!!!
September 2021 - Another public access defibrillator
The 10th Public Access Defibrillator in Southwater was officially unveiled on 22nd September by Saxon Weald Chief Executive, Steven Dennis, Southwater CFR Trustee Pauline Flores-Moore and Michael Durrant a volunteer member of Southwater Community First Responders. This unit is situated outside the Saxon Weald retirement scheme, Gardener House in College Road.
Thanks to funding from Southwater Community First Responders charity, the defibrillator unit was supplied free of charge and installed by Saxon Weald. Simon Francis, a Community First Responder volunteer, kindly provided the cabinet for free via his company Trimbio.
Also in attendance Councillor Claire Vickers (Health and Wellbeing cabinet member Horsham District Council), Southwater CFR Trustee Peter Buckley, Southwater Wardens and the Saxon Weald employees involved in the installation of the unit.
A map showing all the Public Access Defibrillators can be found here
August 2021 - New public access defibrillator
The new Public Access Defibrillator at Roundstone Caravans was officially unveiled on Saturday 21st August. In attendance were Roundstone Park residents Molly, David and Roger, Neil Blanch (Roundstone Parks Director), Rosie Kent (Roundstone Managing Director), Southwater CFR Michael Durrant, Councillor Claire Vickers (Health and Wellbeing cabinet member Horsham District Council) and Southwater CFR Trustees Pauline Flores-Moore, Nancy Brook and Peter Buckley.
The purchase was funded by the Southwater CFR scheme with Roundstone Caravans fitting the device and providing power. We are a registered charity (# 1127511) and largely self-funded by donations from the local community. So we would like to thank all the Southwater residents that have supported us and Roundstone caravans for providing site. The defib can be found in a bright yellow cabinet behind the main workshop to the left of the rear entrance. A link to a map showing the location of all our defibs can be found below. https://www.southwaterresponders.org/community-public
April 2021 - Training
Yesterday evening Southwater CFR’s met in person for the first time this year. Nick Dowling hosted a training session which simulated a call. The team were required to locate the patients (using What3Words), assess their injuries, provide immediate care and then handover to paramedics. All while in constant contact with the SECAMb Emergency Operations Centre. Southwater CFR Lead, Angela Small, wrapped up the evening with a team meeting.
As an observer without medical experience it was fascinating to watch and I finally got to see a Defibrillator used in anger. Training sessions are held every month and it was a pleasure to be able to ditch Zoom and meet in person. We would like to thank Pete & Nancy for allowing us to use their paddock for the meeting. Hopefully next months meeting will be warmer 🥶
March 2021 - Competition Time
You may be surprised to learn how much it costs to equip a Community First Responder. So we thought we would run a little competition. Try and guess the total cost for the equipment listed below and put your answer in the comments on our Facebook post. Click here. The person closest wins a Lindt Easter Egg!!!! In the event of more than one correct guess the winner will be chosen at random by my daughters. The competition ends on Saturday March 6th. Good luck.
** Kit **
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Bobble hat
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All weather high-vis jacket
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Short sleeve shirt * 2
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EMT trousers * 2
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Lightweight high-vis for summer
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Safety boots
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Soft shell jacket
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Observations and dressings kit
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Defibrillator
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Main kit bag
