Community First Responder - Operations

Operations

In general First Responders are sent to immediately life threatening situations such as cardiac arrest. Some ambulance services restrict the type of calls which responders can attend, either through blanket prohibition or by more detailed call screening by the emergency dispatch centre. This is because responders do not necessarily have the levels of training or equipment available to full-time staff, and may arrive on their own, increasing risks. Types of call which responders may not be asked to attend (or be stood down if already en route) include drugs related problems, domestic violence and abusive patients as well as dangerous scenes such as traffic collisions or building sites. In some areas, responders are also not dispatched to paediatric cases, although other areas have this as a main part of their role.

Schemes vary in the UK and are mostly managed by the local ambulance service, although some schemes are run externally (such as by St John Ambulance or by commercial entities such as Alton Towers) in association with the ambulance service. The majority of responders are volunteers and take no payment (although in some areas, payments are made for each call, particularly to staff responders) and use their own cars with no mileage recompense. In most schemes, they are expected to drive under normal road traffic laws, and are not permitted to claim exemptions or use blue lights and sirens. There are a small number of schemes which have dedicated response cars and responders, who have been fully trained in response driving, respond on blue lights and sirens. In most cases funding for these schemes is from charitable donations from local communities.