What are CFRs?
Volunteer CFRs are members of the general public who have received medical training from West Midlands Ambulance Service and respond, when available and in their own time and without pay, to emergency 999 calls in both urban and rural areas. They are not a substitute for ambulance staff, however they provide life-saving skills to patients in their local community until an emergency ambulance arrives.
As well as responding to the most serious emergency 999 calls, CFRs promote health and wellbeing in their local community by raising the awareness of the importance of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of a defibrillator.
CFR volunteers are normally affiliated to a local charitable scheme within their community. All CFR schemes are designed to be financially self-supporting. Although the Ambulance Service will provide all necessary support, training and consumables, CFRs must raise funds for their uniform, equipment and vehicles. CFR schemes are usually involved in a variety of fundraising events to support their voluntary role in their local community.
Interested in volunteering?
West Midlands Ambulance Service has Community First Responders in Arden, Solihull, Birmingham, Black Country, Hereford, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Staffordshire and we are looking to increase our membership.
Applicants will have a good all-round education, a good level of and hold a full UK driving license for at least a year, with no more than three current penalty points. Applicants should also have good communication skills and a willingness to learn and help others.
Why I Became a CFR – Ash O’Malley
Ash O’Malley works as a mechanical design engineer and lives in Hereford.
He was trained in First Aid at work but wanted to take it to an advanced level and that is why he became a Community First Responder; one of a number of people who volunteer their free time to respond to medical emergencies near them while an emergency ambulance vehicle is en-route. He is also currently training to become an instructor for the Herefordshire Heartstart charity.
After seeing an appeal on the internet, Ash applied for a position, underwent the training provided by the Trust, accompanied ambulance crews during their shifts and, after successfully qualifying as a CFR, began responding himself. Ash “books-on” with the ambulance service’s control room on weeknights and occasional weekends while he is at home in the centre of Hereford.
He said: “My first 999 call was to an unconscious person at a residential home. It taught me the golden rule – never to assume, because I assumed it would be a resident, but it was in fact a member of staff who was taken ill.”
Ash has been a CFR for two years and recently attended his one-hundredth incident: “I’ve responded to care homes, a coffee shop, car parks and a football club amongst calls to domestic addresses. The most notable incident I have been to was on a train! It stood out because it was still full of people.”
“I arrived on scene at the same time as the ambulance. We were directed by rail staff across the platform and onto the train to find a man critically ill on board. Fortunately, there was a doctor travelling in the same carriage who was maintaining his airway. I assisted the paramedic by carrying and fetching equipment, preparing kit and taking down the patient’s observations as he was assessed.”
“The railway staff were very prepared; they halted the trains so we could carry the patient across the lines and into the ambulance. I remember thinking it surreal to be working on board a train – not something they taught us in the classroom!”
The training provided by WMAS for CFRs is ongoing and continuous. Ash explained: “We receive monthly training and every year attend a mandatory update where we can refresh our skills. Last year I was very fortunate to be invited to the control room where I listened to emergency calls coming in, and then watched the dispatchers sending vehicles out to the cases.”
“A friend of mine who is a paramedic roped me into playing a ‘live’ casualty in an exercise to simulate a large incident earlier in the year. I was an injured front-seat passenger of a car wedged under a 52-seater bus on a cold January evening. It was a good insight into how to deal with patients and the importance of communicating well with them.”
“For me, being a CFR costs me nothing more than my time and I find it very rewarding. It’s good to be in a position to help people when their worst nightmares are unfolding. It’s not always like that, but it can be sometimes. Everyone is very thankful for your help.”