West Midlands Ambulance Service receives cash boost to help improve survival rates for life-threatening emergencies

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has been awarded £141,970 as one of 10 NHS ambulance charities in the UK to receive funding from NHS Charities Together through its £1.85 million Community Resilience Grants Fund in partnership with Omaze.

Working with 14 NHS ambulance charities up and down the country, the fund has been designed to help more people gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to respond in an emergency.

Currently, fewer than one in 10 people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital will return home to their families, whereas through rapid action and early identification, CPR and defibrillation can increase chances of survival to more than five in 10 people.

The money awarded by NHS Charities Together will allow WMAS to deliver a two-year project to provide basic life support and automated external defibrillator (AED) training to members of the public in areas of the West Midlands with poorer rates or survival from an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

Cliff Medlicott, WMAS regional community response manager, said: “We are incredibly grateful to NHS Charities Together for their support and funding. 

"Their support is helping us bring vital training to communities that need it the most. 

"In the first phase of this project, we will work closely with places of worship in areas where access to health and welfare services is limited, ensuring local people have the skills and confidence to respond in times of need which ultimately will help to save lives.”

Head of grants at NHS Charities Together, Jon Goodwin, said: “We are delighted to award this grant to West Midlands Ambulance Service as part of our Community Resilience Grants Fund. 

"The project has the potential to make a huge difference to people living in the West Midlands by helping them recognise the early signs of a life-threatening emergency and how to respond. 

"In addition to helping improve chances of survival, by educating people to know how to respond in a health emergency, or even prevent it from happening in the first place, we can help reduce pressure on the NHS, which has never been more important.”