Meet some of the members of our team:

Paul Berry

I previously worked as a driver for the local out of hours doctors service. I was once on call with a doctor who, at the time, was one of the very few doctors who carried a defibrillator. The doctor attended a call which initially did not appear particularly urgent but as the doctor entered the house, the patient had a cardiac arrest right in front of him. The doctor shocked the patient 3 times and performed CPR prior to the arrival of the ambulance, the patient kept recovering, then re-arresting. The patient was taken to hospital, after having re-arrested again in the ambulance but after treatment went on to make a full recovery. If the patient had not received prompt CPR and defibrillation, it would have been highly unlikely that he would have survived, so I saw first hand how important having help nearby was in such cases. Being a driving instructor, I only really had a very basic knowledge of first aid. In 2005, I was one of the first on scene at a serious road traffic collision where sadly one person had passed away and there were others with serious injuries. I helped as best as I could as did a number of other drivers who had stopped but I always wondered if I could have done more. Not long after this, the then Sussex Ambulance Service placed an advert in the local press about an exciting new volunteering role they were setting up in rural communities, so I thought I’d sign up; the rest as they say, is history!

Kieran Douglas-Pafford

I have been serving as a first responder with BEAT for nearly two years now, and I have never felt more involved and honoured to be such a part of the community. I have since taken up a full-time role in the ambulance service, alongside responding, training to be an Associate Ambulance Practitioner. Day and night, when I book on, I am proud to be the first face of hope that someone sees in what might be their darkest moment. I can only hope it will be this way for many years to come.

Graham Reeves

I spent 40-years working as an Industrial Hygienist in the Oil and Gas sector. Following a mini-break at Brighton Hospital, I retired and settled into my armchair. My family very quickly decided I needed to spend less time watching A&E programmes and time doing. Vacancies for Community First Responders for SECamb were spotted and I applied. I soon found myself back in the classroom as a pupil on the First Responder on Scene course that all new CFR’s have to complete. This Level 3 nationally recognised course and the associated transition to practice gave me the skills, knowledge and understanding to provide appropriate care prior to the arrival of an ambulance. Five years on, I still find every call a learning opportunity.

Heidi Dodd

I joined BEAT after being present at an incident at a local Baseball club that my kids attended. A parent had accidentally suffered a severe head injury from a 70mph speeding hard ball to the face. We were worryingly stuck in the middle of a field with a long wait for an ambulance. I called up again, and they offered to send a Community First Responder. After chatting to a friend, also called Heidi, who was also a BEAT team member, I signed up too. I love to meet and chat with new people and I have an NHS Nursing and Midwifery background, which is helpful but not at all necessary. I felt it would be good to use those skills to help our community whilst I was at home, and have a good excuse to leave the house cleaning and ironing for another day if I was called out! I’ve attended over 1000 calls in the last eleven years and met so many lovely local people and made new friends in the process. I have also been able to provide Early Defibrillation and basic life support resuscitation many times, which is invaluable for improving survival rates from cardiac arrest, which is one of our key aims.
Our team is a lovely mix of very friendly and supportive people, so if you are physically fit, calm in an emergency, good at communicating and have five voluntary hours to spare per week, come and join our team, it is the most amazingly rewarding role.

Jane Price

My name is Jane and you might see me out and about checking the Public Access defibrillators that we have dotted around the area.
I am no longer an active CFR but my medical training has highlighted the importance of keeping equipment in full working order for that unexpected emergency. I also keep all our defibrillators registered with the National Defibrillator Network.
There are many different ways the charity can be supported if you want to get involved.