Ammanford’s volunteer life-savers have received a massive boost, courtesy of the town’s Rotary Club.

Community First Responders (CFR) play a crucial role in attending medical emergencies, providing immediate and often vital care before ambulance crews arrive on the scene.

Ammanford’s CFR team was created little more than 12 months ago but has already 407 call-outs, including at least one case of bringing someone back to life following a cardiac arrest.

Based on Heol Wallasey, the team have also attended 103 incidents of serious chest pains and 89 cases of patients reporting breathing problems.

The Ammanford CFR team’s efforts are all the more outstanding considering every member is a volunteer, often working around full-time jobs to provide emergency front-line care to residents in need.

A sizeable donation from the Rotary Club has ensured they have been able to purchase two new life-saving response bags, defibrillators and CPR training mannequins.

”We are incredibly grateful for the donation because the more kits we have, the more people we can send out to answer calls,” said Ammanford co-ordinator Karl Jones.

“With increasing pressure on our emergency services, First Responders play a vital role in serving the community and the more equipment we have the better we are able to that.

“Without these kinds of donations we simply could not respond to emergencies.

“The equipment we have been able to purchase could be the difference between life and death on our next call.

"We would also like to say a huge thank you to Nicola and Andrew of Zodiac Windows who's donation paid for our first response kit - their donation was crucial to getting the Ammanford team up and running."

Ammanford Rotary Club president Rob Thomas said: “As soon as we were approached by the First Reponders there was never any question that we would find the money necessary to help them get the equipment they need.

“No one ever knows when they will be the ones needing the help of the First Responders.

“They play a crucial role within the community and the Rotary Club was delighted to help in whatever way we could.”

The First Responder team currently has three regular volunteers but is keen to encourage more people to sign up and take part.

“We are always looking for more volunteers to help out,” said Karl.

Anyone interested in joining the First Responders – or donating to improve and expand their kit – can find them on Facebook or visit their website at cfr-ammanford.info