Nethertown rallied to the cause of equipping its newly formed First Responders with a new defibrillator after misplaced faith in the weather forecast had cost the village its marquee. Threats of heavy rain on Friday and Saturday had prompted the organisers to set up the big tent on a fine Thursday, only for gale force winds to sneak in under the radar and leave it a tangled mess of canvass and bars. The resilience of the Lakeland View estate was proved when site manager, Paul Joyce, came to the rescue, making his own office and home available to the fund-raising committee. The place was packed as virtually every family in the village crowded in to buy cakes and teas, join in an auction of generously donated goods, and buy hundreds of tickets for a raffle which had attracted very generous prizes. Audrey Harrison, one of the senior residents of Lakeland View, worked tirelessly to obtain donations and articles from the local area. At the end of a wet morning, these efforts had raised £900, raising to £3,000 the total raised so far, including donations.

Ron Fowler, who played a major part in setting up the Nethertown group, explained that people in this most isolated of villages clearly felt that they might be in need of the services of First Responders. It would be difficult for an ambulance to reach the victim of a heart attack or cardiac arrest within half an hour, along narrow, unlit roads, and the first four minutes prove to be vital to the chances of survival. A properly equipped rapid response unit within the village can save lives, when volunteers are alerted on their pagers as soon as a 999 call is received by the ambulance service.
Pauline Crompton, Secretary of Whitehaven and District First Responders, demonstrated the use of the defibrillator. Two pads need to be attached to the bare chest of the victim and automatic messages are sent to the volunteer, who may be required to compress the chest vigorously, if necessary to the point of breaking a rib, and attempt mouth to mouth resuscitation. The machine analyses the patient's condition and may require an electric shock to be administered. In one recent case an elderly woman had to receive eight shocks before the ambulance arrived to take her to hospital where she eventually made a full recovery.

This First Responders team of six volunteers will be equipped with two defibrillators, oxygen equipment, mouth pads and face masks, reflective coats and pagers, partly funded by the ambulance service. The fact that their supporters will need to raise £2,000 of the money themselves makes the whole village feel it has stake in a vital project which could be called on to save a life at a critical time. Nearly all the residents of Lakeland View are at least fifty years old and potential victims of heart attacks which are a particularly notorious hazard in West Cumbria.
Anyone interested in setting up another branch of First Responers in their own area should contact Pauline Crompton on 01946 824232.