LEARNERS at the Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC) Barry campus have become the first college students to serve as Community First Responders for the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The HND Public and Emergency Services, based in the town and at the Cardiff International Sports Campus in Leckwith, will respond to their local communities.

Each student has gone through the rigorous process to earn the title of community first responder.

They completed applications, interviews, DBS clearance, 10 hours of pre-course study and 40 hours of advanced medical training.

This training covered themes such as conflict management, safeguarding, anatomy and physiology, oxygen therapy, defibrillation, airway management and catastrophic bleeding.

The students will respond from their Barry and Leckwith campuses, answering 999 calls on a rota basis alongside their studies.

All the learners are fully trained and insured and will wear the uniforms of members of the Welsh Ambulance Service.

CAVC public services lecturer, Tom Jones said: “There is no more valuable resource than human life, and our HND students will experience what it really means to serve the community in real life or death situations.

“This will help them fully immerse themselves in public service life.”

CAVC dean of higher education Leon Annett added: “This has been an excellent opportunity for our higher education students to gain unique qualifications that can not only enable them to support the local community, but also further enhance their professional volunteer development and increase their employability skills.

“This has been an outstanding addition to the course.”

Community first responder trainer for the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAST), Jason Sadler said: “We would like to give our thanks and congratulations to the learners from Cardiff and Vale College.

“Being a community first responder is a challenging but rewarding role and being the first group from a Welsh college is an amazing achievement.

“First responding is a vital part of what we do at WAST and the more potential lives we can save, the better.”