A TEAM of life savers have reached another major milestone thanks to the dedication of their volunteer members.

The Barry First Reponders, who attend emergency medical situations day and night, have just helped their 2,000th person in their hour of need – the first group in Wales to do so!

And they’ve had their praises sung by their patron, Vale AM Jane Hutt, who said: "This puts the pioneering Barry scheme in first place for their commitment in serving the community and supporting the Welsh Ambulance Trust crew, who are on the front line of professional public service."

First Responder groups are a Wales-wide network of volunteers who fill those precious seconds ahead of the arrival of an ambulance with expert treatment.

The groups are equipped with defibrillators and oxygen equipment and are trained in emergency resuscitation techniques.

The Barry band is the largest and busiest in the whole of Wales and since forming in October 2004 with 10 people, it now has 28 volunteers.

Jackie Byrne, 43, is mum to triplets, Harry, Jake and Charlie, eight, and runs a mortgage company with her husband Martin. She has been with the group for two years and was inspired to join up after she lost her own mother, Ella.

She said: "My mum had a heart attack but she died by herself and I found that very difficult to deal with. It made me want to become a first responder so other people wouldn’t have to be on their own."

She added: "If I can just bring a bit of help, support or comfort to someone when they are scared and in pain, then that is why I joined."

Jackie said a lot of her call outs have been to elderly people who have suffered a fall and simply appreciate someone being there until the ambulance arrives.

Glenn Hall, 51, a captain in the Army, attended his first call as a Barry first responder at the beginning of the year. He makes himself available to the group whenever he is not at work, sometimes clocking up to 140 hours a week on call, often deep into the night.

"In a lot of cases when you go to calls, it is not about how we can treat them but how we can reassure the patient and their families until the ambulance arrives," he said.

But sometimes responders are called upon to act fast and in recent weeks, members of the group saved two people who had gone into cardiac arrest.

Tony Rossetti, Welsh Ambulance Service Regional First Responder Officer for South East Wales, said: "There is not a day goes by where the group are not active - last Christmas Day they attended 10 call outs, and another three on Boxing Day."

The Barry team is always looking for more members.

Anyone interested should email tony.rossetti@ambulance.wales.nhs.uk or ring Bryan Foley on 07779 658331 or go to www.vale-responders-wales.org.uk