His 10 years of volunteering service was marked with the presentation of an award in appreciation of his “outstanding contribution and years of service given to the ambulance service.”
Russ, a Cambridge city councillor, used his skills to save the life of a man who collapsed with a heart attack during a council meeting, and since then has trained a large number of city council as well as CRC staff in life-saving techniques.
He is a key First Responder to 999 incidents and set up the college’s own First Responder unit to deal with emergency calls within the campus – reducing the number of incidents the ambulance service needs to attend.
The awards recognise the “long service of volunteers, those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in trying to save lives, and outstanding achievement”.
Russ said he was delighted to receive the award.
“The ambulance service does a fantastic job and it is a real pleasure to help in any way we can,” he said.
“Setting up a unit of First Responders at the college has provided an emergency team available to offer assistance in 999 calls, benefiting our students and the local community, and helping cut the number of calls which the ambulance service has to deal with.
“We are now the first port of call in an emergency on the campus and can make a judgement on whether or not to call an ambulance – freeing up the service to attend another call.”
Anthony Marsh, chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said the awards provided an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the motivation, dedication and commitment of staff and volunteers.
"Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to make sure the thousands of patients we treat every week get the best possible care, whenever they need it,” he said.
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MEDIA ENQUIRIES
For more information, please contact Lynn O’Shea, Cambridge Regional College Press Officer, on 01223 418773 or email loshea@camre.ac.uk
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