{"id":313,"date":"2025-07-17T08:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T08:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/?page_id=313"},"modified":"2026-06-08T14:19:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:19:37","slug":"islay-first-responders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/projects\/islay-first-responders\/","title":{"rendered":"Islay First Responders"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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ISLAY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We support projects that meet real needs on Islay. Some are led by us. Others are driven by local people. All are focused on making life better for the community.<\/p>

Islay Community First Responders are led by local residents
Jordan Cresswell and George Stewart<\/p>

Islay Connections provides administrative support and advice<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In remote or island locations like Islay getting immediate help and treatment for sudden medical emergencies can take a considerable time. In many places first responder groups plug the gap between the 999 call and the arrival of the ambulance, helping their neighbours when they need it most by providing life saving first aid that might otherwise come too late.<\/p>

Islay residents Jordan Cresswell and George Stewart, both experienced first responders, have long wanted to establish a first responder group for Islay. In 2024 they approached us for support and we all agreed to work together, to help make their ideas a reality. We agreed a memorandum of understanding detailing the support that Islay Connections could provide during the long process of developing and establishing Islay Community First Responders (ICFR) as and independent community organisation in its own right.<\/p>

For an island the size of Islay Jordan and George, working with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), estimated that we need 8 to 12 volunteer First Responders to establish a viable group. In the longer term the aim is at least one volunteer in every village to provide a stable, comprehensive service for the community.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Before that can begin work as First Responders each volunteer must be trained and certified by the SAS. The training is free but the expenses need to be met by the group. Volunteers use their own cars and each needs a comprehensive \u00a0first aid kit including a defibrillator and oxygen, high visibility protective clothing and personal safety equipment. All this is expensive and it costs between \u00a31,500 and \u00a32,500 to equip each volunteer.<\/p>

Jordan and George worked hard to recruit volunteers and in March 2025 we organised a meeting with a presentation and discussions led by the SAS. Over the next few months 8 volunteers committed to the project and Jordan and George led fundraising in the community and liaised with the SAS over training and future operating procedures. They developed a Facebook page, a dedicated email address and a logo and signage for the group. We concentrated on administration and fundraising through grant applications, collecting enough money to purchase 5 complete sets of equipment. The SAS ran a training course on Islay in early 2026. Five volunteers were able to attend over two weekends and were all accredited by the SAS as active First Responders.<\/p>

Islay Community First Responders went live in May 2026 and are now providing First Responder services for the Islay community, working in partnership with the SAS.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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There is still a long way to go but ICFR are off to a very good start. They are growing as an independent organisation with regular group meetings and training sessions and developing relationships with the medical and emergency services on the island and with the SAS on the mainland. Meanwhile another three volunteers are waiting for training so that they can join the active team. Looking further into the future we need to recruit more volunteers and raise enough funding to support them through training and supply them with equipment.<\/p>

Islay Connections is very pleased to be able to support Islay Community First Responders.<\/p>

Islay Community First Responders are supported by grants from<\/strong>
Islay Energy Trust Community Fund
Argyll and Bute Supporting Communities Fund
The Schroder Foundation
MachairWind Small Donations Fund
Generous Donations From the Islay Community<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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CAN YOU SUPPORT ISLAY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS?<\/span>
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We need volunteers to train as First Responders and to help with administration and fundraising<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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WHAT DO FIRST RESPONDERS DO?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

HOW IS THE SERVICE ORGANISED?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

WHAT TRAINING WILL I NEED?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

HOW DO FIRST RESPONDERS WORK AS A TEAM WITH THE AMBULANCE SERVICE?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

HOW MUCH TIME WILL I HAVE TO COMMIT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

FOR ALL THE ANSWERS AND MORE PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ISLAY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS DIRECTLY<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>

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EMAIL ISLAY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS<\/strong><\/p>

islaycfr@gmail.com<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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FOLLOW ISLAY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS<\/strong><\/p>

Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS We support projects that meet real needs on Islay. Some are led by us. Others are driven by local people. All are focused on making life better for the community. Islay Community First Responders are led by local residents Jordan Cresswell and George Stewart Islay Connections provides administrative support and advice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":148,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-313","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859,"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/313\/revisions\/859"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islayconnections.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}