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West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has secured a £141,970 grant to help improve survival chances in life-threatening emergencies, such as out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
The service is one of 10 NHS ambulance charities across the UK to receive funding from NHS Charities Together through its £1.85m Community Resilience Grants Fund, delivered in partnership with Omaze. Working alongside 14 NHS ambulance charities nationwide, the initiative aims to give more people the knowledge, skills and confidence to respond in a medical emergency.
Currently, fewer than one in 10 people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside hospital survive to return home. Rapid intervention — through early recognition, CPR and defibrillation — can increase the survival rate to over 50 per cent.
The funding will support a two-year WMAS project to deliver basic life support and automated external defibrillator (AED) training to communities in the West Midlands with historically lower cardiac arrest survival rates.
Cliff Medlicott, WMAS Regional Community Response Manager, said: “We are incredibly grateful to NHS Charities Together for their support. This funding will help us bring vital training to communities that need it the most. In the first phase, we will work closely with places of worship in areas with limited access to health and welfare services, giving local people the skills and confidence to respond in times of need, which ultimately will help save lives.”
Jon Goodwin, Head of Grants at NHS Charities Together, added: “This project has the potential to make a huge difference by helping people recognise early signs of a life-threatening emergency and respond effectively. As well as improving survival rates, educating people to act in a health emergency — or even prevent it — can help reduce pressure on the NHS, which has never been more important.”
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