Community First Responders volunteer their spare time to be available for selected 999 or 112 calls to help other members of the community.
Volunteers can be male or female, aged over eighteen years. They must have access to a car and be able to attend emergency calls from either their home or place of work as soon as they are received.
While a responder is on call they can continue with their normal day to day activities whilst at home, but must be ready to drop everything and attend a call should one arise.
A Community First Responder needs to be extremely reliable and trustworthy, good under pressure, able to remain calm in emergency situations, be caring when dealing with patients and have a good level of physical fitness.
Prospective responders should attend an Open Evening to get an understanding of the role and scope of practice of CFRs and to meet their local CFRs. They will have to apply through the NHS Jobs website, will need to attend and pass an interview and will then have to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) which is carried out by the Ambulance Trust. Once these formalities have been successfully completed, applicants will be offered a place on a CFR training course. Please note that this process will take a minimum of four months and may take longer depending on the availability of places on training courses.