999 Ambulance Emergency
Have You Got What It Takes?

The Next Community First Responder Course
Will Commence: 18th January 2009

The volunteers who respond in the schemes are trained to a extremely high standard by West Midlands Ambulance Service. Staffordshire Community First Responders are trained higher than any other Responder Group in Britain. Team members undergo extensive training carried out by the Ambulance Service instructors. This training takes approximately 3 months. The CFRs take part in 1 x 8 hour training sessions each week, during which time received formal structured training by a full time Staffordshire Ambulance Service Paramedics. In addition to this responders take part in specialist training sessions at Ambulance Head Quarters in Stafford. They spend several days receiving practical experience with ambulance crews or Paramedic Officers as they go about a normal shift. Before becoming operational responders have to pass written exams and successfully complete a day-long practical exercise where real life scenarios are enacted in the community and the performance assessed by professionals from Staffordshire Ambulance Service. Responders also have to complete a four day advanced driving course.

The course covers the IHCD First Person On Scene (Intermediate) syllabus, plus bolt on modules for drugs, airways and medical gasses which prepares Community First Responders to attend any 999 call. The training provided by West Midlands Ambulance Service is the best in the country and allows the successful candidates to be able to deal with most life threatening situations and administer a wide range of life saving drugs.

The syllabus includes; -Anatomy and Physiology -Skeletal and Nervous System -Cardiovascular and Respiratory System -CPR -AED -Shift In Ambulance Control -Airways -Enotonox & Oxygen -Three exams -Spine Boarding -Collars -Observation shifts -Children -Map Reading -Major Incident -Cardiac, Respiratory, Neurological, Traumatic and Medical Emergencies -Drugs; Adrenaline, Aspirin, Glucagon, Calpol, Salbutamol, GTN -Moving and Handling -Practical assessments -Maternity -Clinical Governance -Assessment Day -Scene Saftey

The standards that Community First Responders are trained to are very exacting and demanding. West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust believe that it is necessary to maintain those standards not only to ensure the credibility of the concept but to ensure more importantly the patient, the person who calls for help, is guaranteed to have the best possible life saving chance.

Would You Like To Train As A First Responder?
You can make a valuable contribution to your local community by becoming a member of our First Response Team. The more Responders we have, the better the cover we can provide for your community.