UK Students, Volunteers Create Community First Responder Group

This week sees the official launch of the country’s first student and community first responder group.

Fifteen members of the Cambridge Student and Community First Responders have completed their training to help save lives.

The volunteers are now ready to respond to medical emergencies after buying their own response car to attend 999 calls seven days a week, but are most active at evenings and weekends

They are the latest to join the family of more than 290 community first responder groups in the East of England. However, Cambridge SCFR is the first in the country to combine students and people from the wider community.

The scheme was formed by junior doctor Harriet Gray Stephens in memory of her father, Douglas. The 55-year-old died last year from a bleed to his brain after falling at his home in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire.

Stephens said: “Having previously volunteered as a community responder in my village I have seen the benefits that a responder can have. The longer a patient is in cardiac arrest, the smaller chance of surviving. The SCFR aims to provide rapid intervention in those moments when minutes really count, providing good quality patient care, backed up by the ambulance service. Student doctors and nurses have a great deal of passion and knowledge that they can contribute to the ambulance service. Students can learn whilst making a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of local communities.”

Community first responders are trained by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) to attend a range of emergencies such as cardiac arrests, allergic reactions, diabetes emergencies, and patients with chest pain or breathing difficulties.

Jon Needle, EEAST Community Partnership Manager for south Cambridgeshire, said: “Every second counts during a medical emergency such as a cardiac arrest and CFRs provide immediate life-saving care in their communities, often before the arrival of ambulance staff. It is fantastic that students and residents have shown their community spirit by setting up this new group, which will help to save lives in Cambridge and the surrounding area."

A launch event will be held from 4pm to 6pm on Friday 20th November at the clinical school at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

For more information about the group, visit www.CambridgeSCFR.org.uk

For more information becoming a CFR, visit: https://www.eastamb.nhs.uk/get-involved/community-first-responders.htm