Help is a CERTainty

THEY’VE helped get pregnant mums to hospital, been to car crashes and assisted people with chest pains and breathing problems.
It’s been a big first year for the lifesavers of Lang Lang.
Members of the town’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) recently celebrated their first anniversary.
New leader Peter Sopikiotis said it had been a busy but valuable year.
“We’ve had over 20 callouts a month,” he said.
“It’s been a fantastic year, everybody’s done really well.”
The CERT team was set up last July to support ambulance services in an area in which residents previously had to wait more than 20 minutes for help to arrive.
The team can get to people within minutes and give medical treatment until paramedics arrive.
Volunteers train intensively before joining the team and do regular update courses. Mr Sopikiotis, who was elected team leader at the recent annual general meeting, said the CERT team now had more than 15 members.
“It’s going well,” he said.
Simon Horsburgh is deputy team leader with Jo Algie secretary and Rose Dyall treasurer.
Committee members are Sharon Berry, Kevin Prendergast, Michelle Johnson, Rosie Mudge, Lauren Baker, Grant Johnson and Donna Munro.