On 4th April 2016, Saint Peter’s Lodge No 8493 hosted a ‘Ladies to Dine White Table‘ evening attended by 80 Brethren and Guests (Masonic and Non Masonic).
As part of the evenings events two Charity presentations were made: A cheque of £1,000 donated by the Brethren of Saint Peters Lodge to local Community First Responder Branches (£500 to Mansfield branch & £500 to Ravenshead & Blidworth branch); Mary Spier on behalf of EMAS received the cheque from the Worshipful Master of Saint Peters lodge, W. Brother Les Boyington and local CFR, the Lodge Treasurer W. Brother John Roughton; Two other Saint Peters brethren David Green and Simon Parry are also local CFRs.
Announcing that the donation will be used to buy a defibrillator machine, which is a vital piece of equipment in support of the role of CFRs, which their website defines as follows:
Community First Responders (CFRs) are members of the Community who volunteer to respond to Emergency Calls through the 999 system in conjunction with The Ambulance Service and NHS Trust. Community First Responders provide care to patients in their local area before the arrival of an Ambulance or Paramedic.
CFR’s are trained to deliver Life Saving intervention and defibrillation to patients in Cardiac Arrest. Other calls a CFR would attend include:
- Cardiac Arrest
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Fitting
- Unconsciousness
- Difficulty in breathing
- Paediatric Patients
- Falls
- Trauma
- Diabetic Problems
- Choking
- Assisting a Health Care Professional (Technicians & Paramedics)
Our Health Care Professionals can also attend:
- Road Traffic Collisions
- Major Trauma
As Community Responders are based within the Community in which they live or work, they can attend the scene of an Emergency in a very short time, often arriving before the attendance of an Ambulance.
In the case of Mansfield Community First Responders, in 98% of cases we are the First Emergency Resource to get to the scene, often arriving within minutes of the Emergency 999 call being made.
The Community First Responders can then begin vital lifesaving treatment before the Ambulance arrives, further increasing the patient’s chance of survival. In an ideal world, there would be an Ambulance available on every street corner in each town or in every village. This is not the case, and is why Community First Responders can make such a difference in their Communities, especially in rural areas.
A further Charity presentation made on the night was for £708.50 by W Bro Boyington to W Bro Geoff Rybicki , the Lodge Festival Steward as a result of the Pub Olympics event held at Sherwood Forest Golf club recently and organised by Tony Davenport of Broxtowe Lodge, which is Saint Peters lodge’s latest donation towards the 2018 Festival.
