This innovative, life saving project recruits volunteers to provide immediate care to members of their local communities who are showing signs of heart attack or have suffered a collapse or are having difficulty breathing prior to the arrival of an ambulance. Volunteers undertake a comprehensive training programme to enable them to deal with incidents with confidence. The training is a modular base course delivered over a number of weeks covering a range of subjects including:

● Anatomy and Physiology
● Basic Life Support
● Community Defibrillation
● Communication Skills

Volunteers have the opportunity to have a more detailed involvement with the Trust, including visits to Ambulance Communications Unit and observing A&E crews. A new addition to the Responders training is to attend the Montagu Clinical Simulation Centre and undertake practical training scenarios. Responders who have attended these sessions felt they had benefited from the opportunity, one of the Responders commented "it was a great opportunity and it gave me confidence training with such a life-like manikin". The Responders were also able to train with a live AED "Using a real machine was fine, although this time when we said stand clear, we all stood back".

Volunteers create a rota, through their co-ordinator identifying periods of cover. Responders give a much or as little time as they feel able, ranging from 4 to more than 20 hours a week. They are linked to an Ambulance Communications Unit via a dedicated phone line. The service is put into action once a 999 emergency call has been received and an ambulance has been dispatched.

Please contact us for more information.