CAN YOU HELP TO SAVE LIVES?
As part of the community planning process the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) and Sport NI have been working in partnership on the roll out of the Community Resuscitation Action Plans across the 11 District Council areas. Currently 5 areas have agreed to implement the plans and are delivering the actions. These are:
- Mid Ulster District Council
- Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
- Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
- Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
- Ards and North Down Borough Council
A key action of each plan is to ensure that more people are trained in CPR, which is seen as a vital component in the chain of survival. Sport NI in conjunction with the NI Ambulance Service, and Local councils have devised the ‘Community of Lifesavers (Sports Clubs) programme to supplement previous work towards community resuscitation and the provision of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs).
In order to most effectively roll out this programme to the community; we require volunteers from sports clubs and sporting organisations with an interest in training others to register their interest in delivering Emergency Life Support (ELS) training (including CPR) as a Heartstart Instructor and cascade this vital lifesaving information to their communities. A Heartstart Instructor will follow a ‘train the trainer’ concept where ELS training sessions across sporting organisations will be planned and delivered. Training equipment will be stored at agreed locations within each Council and provided to the Heartstart Instructors when delivering a training session through this programme. Volunteers must be able to carry out at least 2 sessions between April 2020 and March 2021.
In addition to a desire to increase CPR capacity in communities, the ideal volunteer would be confident in delivery of ELS training and as it is a very practical course, be physically able to demonstrate the practical elements during the training sessions. Communication will be key to this, as this will be the primary method in conveying the key messages and increasing the confidence of others to undertake emergency techniques such as CPR in an emergency situation.
If you are interested, can you please contact the relevant person below for an Expression of interest form, and complete all details, returning the form to;
Mid Ulster District Council
Leigh Gilmore (Acting Leisure Development Manager)
leigh.gilmore@midulstercouncil.org Tel: 028 8676 7135
Training Date: 26th March 2020 14:00 – 20:00
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
Anna Boyle (Sport and Physical Activity Development Manager)
active@antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk
Training Date: 18th March 2020 14:00 – 20:00
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Bronagh Turley (Environmental Health Manager)
Brona.Turley@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk
Training Date: 25th March 2020 14:00 – 20:00
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Jennifer Parkinson (Environmental Health Manager)
healthandwellbeing@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk Tel: 0300 013 3333 ext. 40221
Training Date: 9th April 2020 14:00 – 20:00
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Laura O’Hagan, (Sports Development Assistant)
Laural.ohagan@armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk Tel: 028 40660637
Training Date: TBC
If you have any general queries or questions about the programme please do not hesitate to contact the Participation Team at Sport NI, on 02890 381 222
Deadline for completed Expression of Interest forms 28th February 2020 at 5:00pm