Community first responders (CFRs) are in schemes founded and run by volunteers who give up their spare time to attend appropriate emergency calls in their own community. They are dispatched by the EMAS Emergency Operations Centre.
EMAS always provides the fastest possible response to emergency calls using its conventional resources such as ambulances and fast response cars. However, for patients experiencing cardiac arrest every second counts. For every minute that passes without defibrillation a person’s chances of survival can decrease by up to 10%.
In the more rural and hard to reach areas of the East Midlands, community first responders have a much better chance of providing the immediate help needed prior to the arrival of an EMAS crew.
All CFRs are trained to a high level by EMAS over a series of multi-day courses. Regular training sessions are held by the group and annual requalifications in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Drugs are mandatory.