Chance to join our army of community life savers
North East Ambulance Service is targeting five areas across Sunderland to expand its army of volunteer community first responders in a bid to save more lives.
North East Ambulance Service is targeting five areas across Sunderland to expand its army of volunteer community first responders in a bid to save more lives.
We are looking for community first responders in five locations across Sunderland to volunteer their time, to save more lives and support more patients.
Community First Responders (CFR) are deployed to incidents at the same time as an ambulance is dispatched, to provide vital life-saving care and support, or simply a reassuring face, in the crucial minutes between a 999 call being made and the arrival of the crew.
North East Ambulance Service currently has over 120 CFRs who offer around 29,000 hours of their own time to help their local communities by attending more than 1,400 incidents. To help expand out resource in Sunderland, the new areas identified for the new CFR schemes are:
- Sunderland & Centre area
- Houghton Le Spring
- Penshaw, Houghton Le Spring, Sunderland
- Hetton Le Hole
- Washington
Stephen Segasby, Chief Operating Officer at North East Ambulance Service said: “Living within the communities they serve, they can often be on scene almost immediately, providing basic life support, observations and initial treatment whilst the ambulance crews are travelling. They also often remain on scene, offering a much-appreciated extra pair of hands to the attending crew. Their contribution really does save lives, can reduce pain, prevent or reduce hospital stays and provide reassurance to those requiring emergency care.
“It’s fantastic to be able to develop our community first responder scheme further and we look forward to welcoming our new volunteers into our service.”
Recruitment of the new CFRs is now open and closes on 12 April and training will take place over the coming months. For more information on the role, visit https://www.neas.nhs.uk/your-service/community-first-responders