CAVC students the first in Wales to become Community First Responders

A group of HND Public and Emergency Services learners at Cardiff and Vale College have become the first college students to serve as Community First Responders for the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The learners are based at the College’s Barry campus and its Cardiff International Sports Campus in Leckwith. They will respond to their local communities.

Each student has gone through the rigorous process to earn the title of Community First Responder. They completed applications, interviews, DBS clearance, ten hours of pre-course study and 40 hours of advanced medical training.

This training covered themes such as conflict management, safeguarding, anatomy and physiology, oxygen therapy, defibrillation, airway management and catastrophic bleeding.

The students will respond from their Barry and Leckwith campuses, answering 999 calls on a rota basis alongside their studies. All of the learners are fully trained and insured and will wear the uniforms of members of the Welsh Ambulance Service.

CAVC Public Services Lecturer Tom Jones said: “There is no more valuable resource than human life, and our HND students will experience what it really means to serve the community in real life or death situations. This will help them fully immerse themselves in public service life.”

Cardiff and Vale College Dean of Higher Education Leon Annett said: “This has been an excellent opportunity for our Higher Education students to gain unique qualifications that can not only enable them to support the local community, but also further enhance their professional volunteer development and increase their employability skills. This has been an outstanding addition to the course.”

Jason Sadler, Community First Responder Trainer for the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “We would like to give our thanks and congratulations to the learners from Cardiff and Vale College. Being a Community first Responder is a challenging but rewarding role and being the first group from a Welsh college is an amazing achievement.

“First responding is a vital part of what we do at WAST and the more potential lives we can save, the better.”