ARDFERT & District Community First Responders attended 42 emergency callouts in 2015 after going live with the National Ambulance Service on February 23.

In the time the scheme was live in 2015, it attended 10 stroke calls, seven cardiac arrest calls and 25 chest pain calls. The busiest month was November. It has already attended six callouts in 2016.

The scheme, which was setup after a number of cardiac arrests in the area, attends 999 calls in tandem with the National Ambulance Service for patients with chest pain, choking, stroke and cardiac arrest.

The scheme has 20 volunteers on its books, all of whom are trained to provide early medical intervention until the arrival of the ambulance service.

The scheme has a 7km coverage radius which covers as far as Ballyheigue village to the north, Barrow and parts of Fenit to the west, as far as Mounthawk roundabout and parts of The Kerries to the south and as far as the crossroads in Abbeydorney to the east.

All callouts are coordinated by the NAS National Emergency Operations Centre in Ballyshannon, Donegal and Tallaght, Dublin. The scheme covers approximately 8,500 people within its area.

The group works on a pager system which alerts the responder on call of the incident type and location. The scheme received a massive funding boost in 2015 thanks to Kerry County Council. €4,000 was received through the Community Support Fund which has allowed the group to purchase a TETRA digital radio system for use on callouts.

The group is on call 24/7/365 and the scheme’s website is available at www.ardfertresponders.com