MEMBERS of Innerleithen and Walkerburn Community First Responders are on the lookout for more kind-hearted volunteers.

The group, which was formed in 2012, is called out to medical emergencies across the area to provide life-saving treatment while an ambulance is on its way.

But they are looking for more helpers to increase the number of hours they can be on call.

Chairwoman Jackie Brown told us: “All of our members are trained in CPR and we get called out for chest pains and cardiac arrests.

“Being able to give treatment and use a defibrillator is so important for us, because for every minute without one, the patient’s survival chances drops by 10 per cent.

“The problem is, we can not be on call 27/4. At the moment we are probably on call around 30 per cent of the time, so it would be great if we could get some extra help.”

The group is supporting our Heart of the Community campaign, which aims to raise awareness of cardiac arrests and cash for more defibrillators.

We want to see a defibrillator in every part of the Borders.

As we reported when we launched the campaign, the region is already the Scottish capital for surviving cardiac arrests.

Since 2014, survival rates have soared from four per cent to 29 per cent (the Scottish-wide figure is 16 per cent). But we want to go one better and see the region become the world leader.

Sweden and Seattle currently top the table with 30 per cent.

Jackie, who works in biomedical science at Borders General Hospital added: “We have had lots of different people from different backgrounds join the team.

For example, we currently have an architect, retired social worker, lawyer and care home manager. It’s important to stress you don’t need to have a medical background – just a desire to support the local community.

“Great training sessions are provided and it is entirely up to the individual when they want to be on call.

“We are always on the lookout for people to help out with the administration side of the group too.

“We don’t want people to to be scared when it comes to using a defibrillator – you can’t do anything wrong. We are actually producing short videos to allay people’s fears, showing them how to get into the cabinet.

“We have also been working with local schoolchildren to show them what to do in an emergency and teaching them CPR, which is a good skill.”

If you would like to help the Innerleithen and Walkerburn Community First Responders, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/iwcfr/