We’re proud to announce that Lee Holmes, Mandatory Training Manager in our Clinical Education Team has received an Outstanding Contribution to Volunteering Award at this year’s Volunteer Awards.
The award is given to any individual volunteer whose enthusiasm and dedication is so outstanding that it has led to an improvement to the health and wellbeing of West Lancashire residents.
Lee who spends his spare time volunteering at North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) as a Team Leader in the Community Resuscitation Team was nominated by the organisation for saving someone’s life last July.
Lee has clocked up more than 3,000 hours over 10 years volunteering for the service and been a friendly face since 2014.
Lee said:
“I was first on scene and initiated CPR ahead of the emergency ambulance crew and incoming air ambulance. After 40 minutes, the patient was conscious and breathing and on the way to A&E, and they’ve since gone on to lead a full and active life.”
Community first responders are volunteers who live and work in local communities. They are trained and activated by NWAS to attend calls when time can mean the difference between life and death. Calls they can attend include incidents of chest pain, breathing difficulties, cardiac arrest and unconsciousness.
The team provides care and support to the patient and relatives until an emergency ambulance arrives. When someone has chest pains, simply giving oxygen can make a big difference and in extreme cases, community resuscitation responders can perform CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) or use a defibrillator to restart the heart.
The Ambulance Service control centre sends responders to immediately life threatening medical calls within their local area. They are dispatched at the same time as ambulance crews but because they are often in more rural locations, they may arrive more quickly than the ambulance.
Lee enjoys keeping his clinical skills up to date by getting the direct patient facing contact within his volunteer role. In his role at the Trust, Lee manages LMS-X, the Trust learning management system and also mandatory training (Core Skills Framework).
Award winner, Lee said:
“I am incredibly thankful for the recognition and award, as a volunteer I get a great sense of achievement and pride from helping people at the most difficult and often distressing times.
I don’t have direct patient contact within my role at LSCft, but volunteering gives me transferable skills which I can use in my role in the Clinical Education Team.”
This popular awards event was a chance to celebrate the amazing work of volunteers across West Lancashire, and to recognise and say a big thank you for the contribution they make to organisations.
