COMMUNITY First Responders have been teaching mothers in Tywyn how to save lives.

Last Wednesday, staff from Dysynni Community First Responders held a training session in Tywyn Baptist Church showing young parents how to deal with ‘worst case scenarios’ such as cardiac arrest, choking and burns.

Community First Responders are a group of volunteers who can administer first aid to patients in the vital minutes before the Welsh Ambulance Service can arrive.

CFRs are crucial in rural areas where there can be longer waits for patients requiring emergency vehicles.

The Dysynni group was set up in August of this year and have already been called out 58 times to people in urgent need of medical attention and have donated 3,000 hours of their time accumulatively.

As part of their wider programme, the Dysynni CFRs also provide training sessions for groups looking to improve their medical knowledge.

Gareth Mason, coordinator of the first responders, said: “This is the start of our team’s goals: to inform our community of who we are, what we do and how to help someone in an emergency between making a 999 call and help arriving.

“We held a first aid awareness session for a Parent and Baby group which gathers every week in Tywyn Baptist Church.

“I recently applied for a grant from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for the community ‘Call, Push, Rescue’ training kit that we used.

“It includes 10 inflatable resuscitation manikins to allow everyone to practice at the same time. We showed parents how to recognise and treat the ‘worst case scenarios’”

Gareth was happy to help a local group basic medical skills.

“They were shown how to treat babies, children and adults – including how to save a choking baby,” he continued.

“These parents have now become a part of the ‘Nation of Lifesavers’ that the BHF is trying to create.

“We’re happy to train anyone who wants it, so if you know a group that would be interested within Tywyn and surrounding area, then please get in contact with me at [email protected]”