PEOPLE who want to help saves lives in 2016 and beyond are being urged to join the legion of ambulance volunteers in the East.

As people make their new year’s resolutions, community first responder schemes at the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) are hoping that providing medical help locally will be at the top of people’s lists.

First responders attend patients with life-threatening conditions, and attended almost 25,000 medical emergencies in the East of England in 2015. Because they are responding to 999 calls in their communities, they often are first on scene before the arrival of an ambulance or rapid response vehicle. More than 400 people in the East became CFRs last year.

Wendy Risdale-Barrs, Community Partnership Manager for Essex, said: “It’s traditional to make resolutions at the start of a new year. However, why not make one that can help save a life?

“Community first responders give up several hours of their time in the areas they live or work and their volunteering can make the vital difference between life or death, particularly in remote areas of the region where it is not always possible to get ambulance staff on scene in eight minutes.”
“It is an extremely rewarding role and isn’t too time consuming. We ask CFRs to give up a minimum of 10 hours a month of their time and commit to training and assessments to maintain their skills.”

Community first responders are trained to perform basic life support and attend 999 calls such as cardiac arrests, where every second is vital when a patient is not breathing and does not have a pulse. They also attend diabetes emergencies and people who are choking, having a seizure or suffering from breathing problems and chest pain.

Anyone can become a CFR as long as they are physically fit, between the ages of 18 and 70, and agree to a disclosure and barring service check (DBS).
There are almost 500 CFRs in Essex and 162 new volunteers were trained by EEAST in Essex in 2015. The Trust is keen to hear from people living in the Harwich, Witham, Grays, Wickford, Canvey, Frinton, Clacton and Stanford-Le-Hope areas.
Adrian Moore explains the role of a CFR in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv4abI1qPg4 whilst Simon Marshall, community partnership training officer, talks about the skills required to become a CFR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XbvE_ecNQ
For more information about getting involved, visit: http://www.eastamb.nhs.uk/get-involved/community-first-responders.htm or email [email protected]

County breakdown of the number of 999 calls attended by CFRs in 2015 (compared with 2014)
Bedfordshire – 543 (439)
Cambridgeshire – 3,088 (3,719)
Essex – 11,057 (9,147)
Hertfordshire – 1,996 (2,442)
Norfolk – 3,770 (4,460)
Suffolk – 4,253 (4,514)