It's been a busy time for first responders as they continue to support the ambulance service in their time of need.

The Silloth First responders have been working hard to keep the community safe while supporting the ambulance crews with welfare units.

Just in the last week the team have been thank for saving a woman life who went into anaphylactic shock.

Welfare units sent to help staff amid mounting pressure, North West Ambulance Service said this week it was managing to cope with the rising Covid-19 infection rate in north Cumbria.

With demand increasing, the service is increasingly having to juggle call priorities and in some cases people are having to wait longer for an ambulance to arrive.

The current climate is much worse than a normal winter and the NWAS welfare unit has been deployed on a number of occasions to help keep staff fed and watered while they work.

A first responder for Silloth, Owen Martin Said: "It’s great to be able to provide this for the front line crews, most are often far from station so they can grab a quick cuppa and a snack before their next job."

With 36 ambulances in the county, which has normally been sufficient, NWAS has plans in place in case there is more demand.

Proud of the staff and all the hard work the have been doing, Roger Jones, interim head of services for NWAS said: “We’re a busy service. We also have first responders who play a vital role in the communities.

“We currently have a 25 per cent increase in calls, most of which are Covid-related, but we also have our winter calls.”

The units them selves are funded by money from donations and provide the much-needed refreshments free of charge to the NWAS staff. During the pandemic they have been used regularly to support staff and Silloth First Responders have been proud to help offer their support at the hospital sand help keep staff morale up.