Thanks to all those who joined us at this morning’s First Aid Business Breakfast at Hamilton Road’s @Inc. Felixstowe – we hope that you found it a useful event and enjoyed your breakfasts and networking opportunities!
We were pleased to hear from expert training organisation TrainEEast, with whom the Chamber will be working to deliver our First Aid training in the New Year.
Jess from TrainEEast, supported by Kate, talked about their superior training services in this field. Unlike other Ambulance Trusts, the East of England Ambulance Trust travels all over the country to deliver this kind of training. A success that the East can truly be proud of!
Jess explained that they deliver a variety of courses dependent on needs, e.g. low-risk office/shop-based businesses, requiring the one-day ‘Emergency First Aid at Work’ courses; three-day ‘First Aid at Work’ courses or annual refreshers for speciality areas, such as care homes, Police and schools; and all the way up to training fully-qualified NHS Ambulance staff.
They also pointed out that all their tutors are fully-qualified, and an advantage is that courses do not get cancelled due to sickness, as there is always someone who can cover.
On top of receiving the best in training, all profits from delivering these courses goes back into the community, via the NHS Ambulance Service. Plus, course attendees receive NHS Ambulance Service logos on their certificates…these will look very impressive when displayed on your wall!
This was followed by Chamber Committee Member Andy Proctor, who talked about why he became a Community First Aid Responder, what this role entails and the experiences that he has had.
Andy and Jess then did a demonstration on resuscitation and how to use a defibrillator, with audience participation by volunteer and Chamber Committee Member, Murray Oliver – helping to give everyone confidence on how these machines work, how easy it is to use them, and what to do in this kind of life-critical emergency.
We are fortunate in our community, as we see defibrillators all over Felixstowe – in the Library, Co-op, Spa Pavilion, Salvation Army, Leisure Centre, Fantasia, Fairfield School, Conservative Club and more https://www.defibfinder.uk/).
Finally, Lynn Needs from the ‘League of Friends of Felixstowe Community Hospital’ enlightened us to the history of our Hospital, and the League of Friends, explaining what the organisation has done, what it does and what it wants to do.
This led to the most important point: how we, as a community, can help out, not just with donations, but simply becoming a member, for only a Pound.
This will help the League of Friends to show that Felixstowe’s 113-year-old Hospital is an invaluable community asset to us all, and will serve to ensure that we can increase and improve the services in our fast-growing town, instead of it becoming another cutback from the beleaguered and under-funded NHS.
Our next Chamber event will be held at the end of January 2023, with the theme of ‘Retaining and Developing Staff’. More details coming SOON!