Community First Responders

Who We Are

• All Responders are volunteers
• We all live locally and respond locally
• All are trained by the Ambulance Service
• We have four local groups

Our Role

• To attend life-threatening calls within our local communities
• Dispatched by the Ambulance Operations Centre
• Aim to be on-scene within 8 minutes
• Always supported by an Ambulance crew
• To act only within our Scope of Practice
• To ensure patient confidentiality at all times
• To treat everyone impartially and without prejudice
• To act professionally and calmly under pressure
• To escalate concerns of abuse or neglect, through the correct channels

Our Training

• Attend an initial training course run by the Trust
• Spend time on-shift with Paramedic crews*
• Complete continuation training
• Skills assessed annually

Types of call

• Cardiac Arrest
• Heart Attack
• Chest Pains
• Breathing Difficulties
• Stroke
• Choking
• Fitting
• Unconscious casualty
• Diabetic Incident
• And more!

How we operate

• Online Rota for each kit
• Each kit is fully equipped and includes a smartphone
• Clothing and PPE is personal issue
• Dispatched by NMA app or voice call from the AOC
• All information is in the app:
  • Address
  • Patient Age
  • Condition
• We adhere to all standard speed limits

Recruitment Process

• Expression of interest
• Interview with your local group
• Application pack sent to you from the Trust
• References & Occupational Health check
• DBS & Right to work checks
• Volunteer ready for a course placement
• The Trust Commercial Training team send an invite for a training course directly to the new volunteer
• Once trained you can shadow an experienced responder
• You don’t have to go out alone
• The Trust ask for a minimum of 16 hours per month*
• When you’re ready, you can book on as a solo responder