Ettington

What is a Community First Responder ?

First Responders are people who live in the community to which they serve, they are retained on a voluntary basis by the West Midlands Ambulance service and are dispatched to area’s of their community where people have suffered trauma or a sudden life-threatening illness.  The First Responder is trained by the West Midlands Ambulance Service to a nationally accredited qualification  to give Emergency Life Saving treatment until the Emergency ambulance resource arrives on scene.  The First Responder does not replace the Ambulance Service resource but bridges the gap between the 999 call and the arrival of the Ambulance Service.

The importance of a Community First Responder ?

The Governments white paper ‘Saving Lives’, our healthier nation, stressed the importance of early public access to Defibrillation.  West Midlands Ambulance Service has Community First Response Schemes operational in the following area’s of the West Midlands region:

• Coventry & Warwickshire
• Shropshire
• Staffordshire
• Birmingham & Black Country
• Hereford & Worcester

In many illnesses or injury the first few minutes are crucial and simple interventions can be performed in order to SAVE LIVES or PREVENT DISABILITY.  The West Midlands Ambulance Service is committed to providing the highest standard of pre-hospital care at all times.

In the UK 135,000 people die each year due to sudden Cardiac Arrest.  80% of these deaths happen outside of the hospital environment.  85% of Cardiac Arrests are a result of a sudden disruption to the electrical conductivity system of the heart called Ventricular Fibrillation(VF). VF is treatable by early access to CPR and the use of a Defibrillator. 

Minutes ‘SAVE LIVES’.  The sooner a defibrillator is used the better chance the patient has of surviving.  After a patient has collapsed following a Cardiac Arrest every minute that a defibrillator is not used the chances of survival reduces by 7 - 10%.  This is where the Community First Responder can save lives.

All Community First Response Schemes are designed to be financially self supporting.  The West Midlands Ambulance Service  provide all the necessary support and training, but the scheme will only be successful if financial support is obtained by means of fund raising and donation.

If a 999 call is made within  a set radius from the Community First Responder’s address, the ambulance service may pass the details to the First Responder and request them to attend the incident.  The ambulance service will always dispatch the nearest ambulance resource to the call first.  Once on scene the First Responder will provide emergency treatment to the patient until the ambulance resource arrives and takes over the advanced care of the patient. 

The type of Emergency the Community First Responder is trained to attend are;

• Cardiac arrest
• Heart attacks
• Strokes
• Chocking
• Diabetic emergencies
• Traumatic emergencies

Each First Responder carries a kit which contains life-saving equipment such as a defibrillator, oxygen, and various other items of equipment to help and assist with the treatment of the patient.  The basic medical kit is purchased direct from the ambulance service at a cost of around £1,100, other equipment such as blood pressure monitors, stethoscopes, and uniforms will be purchased at extra cost although the ambulance service have arranged a generous discount direct from their suppliers.  First Responders represent the West Midlands Ambulance Service each time they are called and as such, they have a duty to abide by the code of conduct just like any other employee of the Trust.  The image of the ambulance service is very important and very often the first point of contact with the ambulance service will be through the Community First Responder.  Responders wear a blue uniform with hi visibility jackets which are clearly marked with the ambulance logo and the words, ‘Community First Responder’. 

As previously mentioned, the ‘Community First Response’ scheme can only be successful if the people in the community to which it serves give donations.  Any amount of financial support will be gratefully received no matter how small and the money will be used solely to purchase new equipment and support the scheme.  Each new member of the community first response team will require a medical kit as well as uniforms and through your generosity you will enable the team to grow providing more medical cover for your community.

(Information from the West Midlands Ambulance Service)