Six Dedicated Cars for Volunteer Community First Responders

 

The Launch

 

During Volunteers' Week in June, at beautiful Buckfast Abbey in Devon, six Charity funded Dacia Duster cars were handed over for Community First Responders (CFRs) to use across the South West.

 

Our Charity secured a major grant of £128,000 from NHS Charities Together to buy the six Dacia Dusters and have them converted and fitted out for Community First Responder use. Each car has been wrapped with the CFR livery, equipped with a full CFR kit, enhanced patient observation equipment and a Raizer lifting chair.

 

The cars received a blessing from the Abbot of Buckfast Abbey, in the presence of SWASFT CEO Will Warrender, South Western Ambulance Charity Head of Charity Zoe Larter, NHS Charities Together CEO Ellie Orton, SWASFT Head of Volunteering & Community Services Jane Whichello and many other volunteers, staff and invited guests. 

 

These cars were provided for the Volunteer & Community Services team to enable them to meet a multitude of needs. To extend CFR capacity, participate in community engagement activities, be used for observation and double-crewed shifts and for volunteer training. Also to potentially be used to target specific types of incident, for example as a 'Falls Car' or a 'Crew Welfare Car' at times of specific need.

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3 Months Later...

 

Reviewing the data after these CFR cars had been on the road for the first three months, we could see they have attended:

• 72 Category 1 999 calls (i.e. the most serious, life-threatening incidents) with an average incident response time of under ten minutes;

• 230 Category 2 999 calls (i.e. patients with serious condition, such as stroke or chest pain, which may require rapid assessment and/or urgent transport);

• 135 Category 3 999 calls (i.e. An urgent problem, such as an uncomplicated diabetic issue, which required treatment and transport to an acute setting.  This category also includes non-injury falls).​

 

Over the past three months the CFR cars have attended a broad range of emergency incidents including:

• 59 breathing difficulties;

• 57 falls;

• 47 chest pain/cardiac arrest/heart problems;

• 27 strokes;

• 14 convulsions/fitting.

 

Additionally, the cars were booked out for many hours to support:

• Community events;

• Recruitment & Awareness activities;

• Education & Mentoring sessions;

• Fundraising activities.

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Community First Responder volunteer Barry says;   “A significant benefit identified from the use of county-based CFR cars is the ability for new volunteers to attend observer shifts.  During these shifts experienced Community First Responders can provide mentoring, training and support ongoing professional development in their role.”

 

Community First Responder volunteer Richard says, “The enhanced profile [provided by the dedicated CFR Cars] offers the immediate operational benefit of making CFRs more noticeable, which aids personal security, especially when responding at night or at less busy locations. This increased visibility has had an exponential impact of the population’s awareness of the CFR role. This increases recruitment interest, saving recruitment expenditure, and increases the likelihood of further charitable donations.”

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