Ryan Appleton has been a Community First Responder (CFR) for the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) for 9 years. This voluntary role of a CFR is to attend life threatening 999 calls within their locale to provide life saving help. The types of emergencies a CFR would typically be called to include, but are not limited to; strokes, heart attacks, choking and cardiac arrest.
Ryan initially co-founded a CFR group in Clacton 9 years ago with his twin brother Dean, and has since moved to Colchester, joining an existing group where they both volunteer to this day.
At the inception of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ryan was called upon by EEAST if he could provide any further help due to his existing skillset. Potter Raper gladly enabled Ryan to undertake further training in order to drive and operate Ambulances and provide further patient care roles. The training Ryan received was a joint collaboration between the local Constabulary for a driving course and EEAST for clinical upskilling.
Throughout the Pandemic we supported Ryan to enable him to be on call for these life threatening emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The result of which enabled Ryan to provide critical care to many patients. At the time of writing, since the Pandemic was declared, Ryan has been able to bring back to life 5 patients who had suffered a cardiac arrest through early CPR and defibrillation, 2 of which required the assistance of the Essex Air Ambulance. He has also attended a vast amount of other emergencies where he has been able to make a difference within the period.
For his efforts, Ryan has been awarded a ‘Hidden Gem’ Award from EEAST for exemplifying the values of the Trust.