Staff with the skills to save your life

Four of its staff have become the first shopping centre employees in the region to be trained in vital life-saving techniques by the ambulance service.

The British Heart Found-ation, the United Kingdom's leading heart charity, has provided the centre with a defibrillator machine to aid those staff when trying to restart a person's heart following cardiac arrest.

"We have eight million people a year passing through our doors and on occasion someone falls seriously ill," said Kingsway Centre manager Michael Hine.

"The sooner that person receives treatment, the better their chances are of recovering and that is what this training has been all about.

"We are spearheading an initiative here by giving staff the skills and equipment to give as much help as they can to a person before the ambulance arrives and the paramedics take over."

The four centre staff - Mr Hine, his assistant Terryanne O'Connell, security manager Neil Edmunds and security supervisor Colin Rees - have qualified as First Responders.

The First Responder scheme is run by the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and enables members of the community to learn the skills necessary to begin lifesaving treatment before an ambulance arrives.

Kath Ham, First Responder co-ordinator for the trust's South East Region, spent four days training the quartet in basic life-saving skills, including use of a defibrillator.

She said: "Every second counts when you are trying to save someone's life. The schemes have proved of huge benefit in assisting the ambulance service to provide the best possible pre-hospital care for patients."

"Shopping centres see a huge number of people each day and this ensures that, if someone falls seriously ill, staff have the skills to begin treating that person immediately." There are 14 First Responder schemes operating across South Wales, and other shopping centres are in the process of joining up.