Photo of Dawn Taylor smiling at camera.

Rossendale Community First Responder (CFR), Dawn Taylor, affectionately known amongst her colleagues as ‘Mother’ has been awarded the prestigious British Empire Medal (BEM) in this year’s New Year’s Honours list by His Majesty The King.

The medal was awarded in recognition of her outstanding work and dedicated service to the people of Rossendale as a CFR, and to install life-saving community defibrillators in the community. Dawn has been a hard working member of NWAS’ CFR team for more than 21 years, giving up her own free time to attend to emergencies – providing vital CPR in the event of cardiac arrest and a comforting presence while waiting for ambulance crews to arrive.

North West Ambulance Service Chief Executive, Salman Desai comments; “I am absolutely delighted that Dawn has been honoured in this way, and it is so well deserved. Dawn has assisted our organisation and our patients for a staggering two decades, come rain or shine, and played a crucial role in ensuring there are more than 90 community accessible defibrillators in the Rossendale area. It is a fabulous end to the year to see her contribution to her community recognised, and on behalf of all of us at NWAS, I would like to thank her and all of our volunteers for their service.”

Community First Responders are people like Dawn who want to make a difference in their communities by responding to 999 calls close to their homes, ensuring life-saving treatment can be administered before an ambulance arrives. NWAS has almost active 1,000 CFRs throughout the North West, all of whom give up their own free time to respond to patients and train others like them. They are a vital link in the chain of response, especially in the rural areas the trust serves. All at NWAS are immensely grateful for all of the volunteers who work with them, including CFRs, car drivers who take patients to out patient appointments and members of our Patient and Public Panel. Their contributions enable NWAS to save lives, improve services and provide care to the millions of people in the North West region.