The West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) is offering free life‑saving training sessions in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, to teach residents how to help during a medical emergency before paramedics arrive. The Wolverhampton phase of the campaign began in early February 2026 and covers how to perform chest compressions (CPR), how to use public access defibrillators (automated external defibrillators, AEDs), and how to control severe bleeding.
The programme is funded by a £141,970 grant awarded by NHS Charities Together through its Community Resilience Grants Fund, delivered in partnership with Omaze. The short, non‑certified workshops last roughly 60–90 minutes and are being offered at community hubs across the city, including local fire stations, community centres and places of worship.
WMAS has prioritised parts of Wolverhampton because the campaign targets areas with historically higher rates of out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest and lower survival — a focused effort to address local health inequalities. The initiative aims to significantly increase survival rates by equipping bystanders with the skills to intervene in the crucial minutes before an ambulance arrives; project documents note that rapid action (early recognition, CPR and defibrillation) can raise survival from around 10% to over 50% in some circumstances.
The sessions are being delivered by WMAS’s Community Response team. WMAS Community Response Manager Cliff Medlicott said: “Every second counts when someone’s heart stops or when there’s severe bleeding. By giving more people in our communities the knowledge and confidence to act, we can dramatically improve someone’s chance of survival.”
Wolverhampton City Council is listed among the local stakeholders helping to promote the programme and facilitate access to community venues; journalists should seek an explicit confirmation from the council or WMAS if they plan to state the council is directly arranging specific venues for particular dates.
For further information or to arrange a training session, contact WMAS via the details on its website.
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