Eastbourne Ambulance Community First Responders are volunteer members of the community organisation, trained to respond to emergency calls through the 999 system in conjunction with the Ambulance Service. Responders provide immediate care to patients in their area. Because Community Responders are based within the community in which they live or work, they can attend the scene of an emergency in a very short time.
The Community Responders often arrive within a few minutes of the emergency 999 call and will provide care until the Ambulance arrives. A Community Responder is automatically alerted by the Ambulance 999 centre once the location of the emergency is known..
Typical calls they attend are:
A responder kit includes a defibrillator which actually stops the heart by giving a shock so that it might regain a normal rhythm, this is vital in Cardiac Arrest as early use can make a considerable difference in outcome. Other equipment carried consists of Oxygen, a suction unit, medical strength Asprin for possible cardiac cases, Glucogel a strong sugary substance for diabetic problems, a set of airways, and also other first aid equipment. As you can imagine all of this costs money, in fact to fully kit a responder costs almost £ 1,800.
The responders face two problems, one of public recognition (many people don’t know they exist although everyone is glad they do!!) and the other is one of funding. There are prospective responders waiting to serve their local communities within the Eastbourne area, however without funding to purchase kits for them they are simply unable to respond to potentially life threatening situations.
The responders give up their time to potentially save lives. As such they require ongoing support to ensure they have the right equipment to respond. So if your able to make a contribution please contact the team for details.
After all the next life they save could be yours.
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Ambulance Community First Responders.
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