East Midlands Railway (EMR) staff at Sheffield Railway Station have joined forces with Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust to train colleagues as Community First Responders (CFRs). They are now equipped with skills to provide vital care, comfort and reassurance to anyone suffering a medical emergency before an ambulance arrives on scene.
Colleagues from the supervisor, platform services and customer information teams have participated in the three-day CFR course which includes training on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), operating a defibrillator and administering oxygen.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service has provided the EMR team with a CFR kit bag which includes an automated external defibrillator (AED); this is an additional resource to the four AEDs already available on platforms.
The training has been completed by four colleagues, and the station will aim to have at least one trained CFR on site at all times. Five additional colleagues will be trained as CFRs in January 2024.
Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “Sheffield is a very busy railway station with 8-10 million passengers passing through every year. The safety of passengers is our utmost priority and this scheme means that we are better trained to provide initial care during any medical emergencies.
“We’re looking forward to rolling the CFR course out to more station staff, so that when someone falls ill or becomes injured, we’ll be on hand to provide the best possible first-response care.”
Warren Bostock, Community Defibrillation Officer with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “We’re really pleased to be partnering with EMR to deliver our training to their colleagues in Sheffield, and particularly in such a busy station setting.
“CFRs make an extremely valuable contribution to their communities, and anyone using Sheffield Railway Station has the added benefit of CFRs working on site. We know that in many medical emergencies, such as a heart attack, breathing difficulties or a collapse, the first few minutes are critical. If effective treatment can be given within those first minutes, lives can be saved.”
