SOMERSET NEWS: Firemen nominated for Heart Hero Awards

TWO Taunton retained Fire Crew have been nominated by the British Heart Foundation for a Heart Hero Award at the University of Birmingham.

The BHF Heart Hero Awards on June 29, 2016, recognise and celebrate exceptional contributions to the fight against heart disease.

Watch manager Phil Musgrove and Firefighter Richard Flavin have been shortlisted in the innovation category in recognition for their work as instructors for Heartstart Somerset.

Phil and Richard qualified as BHF Heartstart instructors in November 2009 when the scheme was first introduced to the Fire Services Somerset Command. To date they have trained over 2,659 members of the public on how to perform CPR and the effective use of a public access AED.

In a moving and very personal story, Phil tells students on his courses of the evening he performed CPR on his wife Paula. He had returned from a fire shout in the middle of the night and was awoken by his daughter complaining that his snoring was keeping her awake.

Phil quickly realised that the noise was actually his wife in the same bed. She was experiencing Agonal Breathing (this is medically defined as noisy infrequent gasping breaths) and a sign that someone is in cardiac arrest. Phil performed CPR and paramedics were quickly on the scene. Thankfully Paula has made a successful recovery made possible by Phil’s actions.

PHOTO – TOP: Watch manager Phil Musgrove and Firefighter Richard Flavin.

Then in 2015 a defib was placed by the Heartstart team in the Spar shop at Williton. Phil, with the support of Williton fire crew, delivered community training in Williton.

Earlier this year, 61-year-old Paul Dimmock from nearby Watchet went into cardiac arrest on the forecourt of the Shell Garage near the Spar shop.

Williton retained firefighter Guy Denton used the AED to deliver three shocks that along with 20 minutes of CPR kept Mr Dimmock alive until a helicopter arrived to take him to hospital. Having survived, Mr Dimmock has now pledged to help support the Heartstart Instructors fundraising for an AED in his home town of Watchet.

Phil and Richard have also been working tirelessly fundraising to enable placement of AED’s in local communities and have subsequently provided follow up training in local village halls, schools and open days.

Anyone wishing to come forward for training as a volunteer Heartstart Instructor and engage with their local community should visit the website http://www.heartclass.co.uk/ for more information.

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