South Western Ambulance Charity has received a £142k boost to help with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

The charity is one of the first NHS ambulance charities in the UK to receive funding from NHS Charities Together through its £1.85 million Community Resilience Grants Fund in partnership with Omaze. The funding was generated through Omaze’s Million Pound House Draw, which raised £2.6 million to support the vital work of NHS Ambulance Charities in the UK.

Working with 13 NHS ambulance charities across the country, the fund is designed to build community resilience and equip more people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to respond in an emergency.

Currently, only one in ten people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive to return home to their families. However, rapid action, including early recognition, calling for help, CPR, and defibrillation, can significantly improve survival rates.

Timely access to defibrillation, for instance, can increase survival chances to more than 50 per cent.

Knowing CPR and where your nearest defibrillator is located could mean the difference between life and death. By learning these essential skills, members of the public can help provide immediate, lifesaving care while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

Zoe Larter, Head of the South Western Ambulance Charity, said: “We are incredibly grateful to NHS Charities Together and Omaze for their generous support and funding. This grant will allow us to strengthen our work in equipping communities with the skills and resources needed to respond effectively in emergencies.”

The funding from NHS Charities Together will enable the South Western Ambulance Charity to fund the following initiatives:

Community Response Vehicles: Two new Community Response Vehicles have already been purchased for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust’s (SWASFT) volunteer Community First Responders. These vehicles will allow volunteers to reach patients quickly and provide vital support before an ambulance arrives.

Defibrillator registration and accessibility: The grant will support a new programme to increase the number of registered community defibrillators in the region. With funding support from the South Western Ambulance Charity, SWASFT has already assisted over 700 schools across the South West with the correct installation and registration of defibrillators. Now, 84 per cent of schools are registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network that provides NHS ambulance services with real-time information about defibrillators across the UK.

Community Ambassador Programme: The funding will help establish a new Community Ambassador volunteer role. These volunteers will be trained as Basic Life Support (BLS) instructors, enabling them to deliver standardised CPR and defibrillation training to increase confidence and competence. This will ensure more people are prepared to act effectively in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest situation.

In the past year, the charity has funded outdoor space improvements at over 50 ambulance stations to support staff. It has also launched a fundraising appeal to raise £210,000 to purchase, convert, and equip seven new Community Response Vehicles for volunteer Community First Responders to assist patients across the region.