Many readers will know Mark Norbury as the former senior army officer who has worked with NARU as the National Ambulance Resilience Coordinator since its inception.
However, many may be surprised to learn that aside from his full-time position with NARU, Mark is also a seasoned Community First Responder (CFR) at South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, where he has now reached four notable milestones:
- Mark has been a CFR for 6½ years during which time he has been on-call for 30,250 hours
- He has responded to 2,057 patients
- He has driven over 10,000 miles as a CFR
- He has used a defibrillator 95 times, achieving return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) an amazing 21 times
Mark recognised that the most stressful thing for CFRs can be actually finding the location of the patient, especially in rural areas where road signs and house numbers are not always apparent.
To combat this, Mark has worked with the Ordnance Survey to develop PINPOINT, an electronic mapping system which is now used by hundreds of CFRs across the country and which proves of immense value in rural areas and villages with no house numbers.
Says NARU National Director Keith Prior;
“Mark’s commitment to the ambulance service is particularly admirable and these milestone achievements are to be commended, especially when you consider that he does all of his CFR work in his own time as a volunteer, aside from his full-time job with NARU.
I am extremely proud to have Mark on the team and know that his dedication to patient care is second to none.”