LIVES could be put at risk if a charity does not receive vital help from residents.
Knutsford Community First Responder Trust (KCFRT) is making an urgent plea for volunteers.
Their emergency team works alongside North West Ambulance Service, responding to 999 calls in Knutsford and the surrounding areas.
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Volunteers attend an average of 300 callouts every year, arriving first on the scene of an emergency in more than 80 per cent of cases.
A team of 12 fully trained Community First Responders is required to provide emergency cover across any given week.
However, as a result of the Covid pandemic, the team has now dwindled over the past few years and currently stands at just two active volunteers.
Adrian Rees, KCFRT chairman, said: “Without new recruits, the trust faces withdrawing its lifesaving services from the town and risking the safety and lives of our local community.
“Working as a First Responder is an extremely rewarding experience and requires a commitment of just four hours a week.
“I would urge anyone to come forward to find out more about how they can get involved and help keep our organisation alive and our community safe.”
The First Responder team is a trained group of volunteers whose aim is to preserve life and promote recovery in a situation in which an ambulance is not immediately available.
The trust was one of the first of its kind in the UK to set up an emergency team of local residents and celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year.
Since the late founder Terry Mitchell launched the charity in 2002, trained volunteers have attended more than 6,000 emergency calls.
The trust acts as an umbrella for three other initiatives.
Heartstart provides free courses to teach basic skills that save lives.
Free cardiac screening to detect undiagnosed heart conditions for available for young people aged between 14-35.
The organisation instals defibrillators in public places across Knutsford for the local community.
The charity is wholly supported by donations and fundraising events and the team itself is made up of unpaid volunteers.
Every penny received is spent on saving lives in Knutsford.
Volunteers are welcome from all walks of life to become First Responders and require no prior experience.
Comprehensive training will be provided from North West Ambulance Service to the level and ability required.
For an initial chat about becoming a volunteer contact Adrian Rees on adyrees@yahoo.co.uk, call 07501 128571 or visit kcfrt.org.uk to find out more.
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