A community first responder for the East of England Ambulance Service was honoured at the North Herts Heroes Awards for her life-saving work.

Laraine Upton, from Royston, received the Health Award - having volunteered for eight years to attend urgent 999 calls within her community and assist before an ambulance arrives.

Given Royston's rural location and distance from the nearest emergency facility, this volunteer service is vital, and in 2022 they attended nearly 500 calls.

Last year the categories of calls which the first responders are asked to attend were increased to include falls and seizures, in addition to cardiac arrests, strokes and other life-threatening conditions.

Laraine said: "About nine years ago, my mum was critically ill and I felt guilty calling the ambulance service so much so I became a volunteer. I absolutely love it.

"We get the alert and the adrenaline starts pumping, we need to get there as soon as possible as someone’s life is in danger."

Royston has two teams of three community responders, but they really need a total of eight volunteers, and they only have the equipment for one team.

Laraine has therefore been raising money to fund more equipment, including a specialist phone and a raiser chair.

READ MORE

First responders also fund their own training, and during the pandemic Laraine and other volunteers undertook additional driving training and can now drive an ambulance if required, freeing paramedics to stay in the ambulance administering first aid.

Laraine leads both Royston first responder teams alongside a full-time job.

The North Herts Heroes Awards were presented at the council chamber in Letchworth on Friday, March 3.

They are sponsored by Willmott Dixon and Cala Homes, with judges including council chair Cllr Sam North and Andy Nazer from North Herts Centre for Voluntary Service.

Unfortunately Laraine was unable to attend the ceremony, so her award was accepted by fellow first responders Chrissie Wolfinden and Jo Caruana.

Chrissie said: "We couldn’t do it without Laraine as our coordinator. We’re so happy to serve our community, we love doing what we do."

To find out more go to https://www.eastamb.nhs.uk/join-the-team/community-first-responders.