Newcastleton Community First Responders

The village of Newcastleton lies in a remote valley about 20 miles north of Carlisle just over the border into Scotland in the Liddesdale Valley. It has a population of approximately 1600 people and covers over 400 square miles of rough border land. We are volunteer members of the community who are trained to respond to most emergency call through the 999 system in conjunction with the ambulance service. Responders provide immediate care to patients in rural areas where distance could delay the prompt arrival of an ambulance. We are trained to deliver Basic Life Support and defibrillation to patients in Cardiac Arrest, as we are based within the community we can attend the scene of a emergency in a short time, often arriving within the first three or four minutes of a 999 call being made. In 98% of cases we are the first emergency resource to arrive at the scene. The Responders can then give vital life saving aid before the ambulance arrives increasing the patients chance of survival. To date we have had 130 call outs. The group is entirely self funded and we are very grateful to the village for the support that they have given us over the past 5 years.