LIFE-SAVING volunteers are needed to help the ambulance service respond to emergencies faster.

Community First Responders (CFRs) are members of the public who are trained in life-saving techniques and are the first on the scene when an ambulance is called out.

The area in most need is Broadway and its surrounding villages.

Those hoping to become CFRs will be called to the ambulance service’s control room to medical emergencies in their area while an ambulance is en-route, and will be trained to use life-saving equipment like a defibrillator – a device used to restart the heart of someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest.

Community response manager Noel Orbell said: “Volunteers come from all walks of life. When they make themselves available to respond they can continue to go about their daily lives, but if an emergency call is received by the ambulance service within a five or six-mile radius, they are sent and always backed up by an emergency ambulance service vehicle.”

Volunteers responding in and around Broadway would be part of the Vale of Evesham Community First Responder scheme.

Co-ordinator Mark Heesom said: “We are appealing for enough volunteers to join us so there is someone available to respond 24 hours a day across the whole of the Vale of Evesham.”

Applicants who want to apply to become a CFR must be aged 18 or over and have a full driving licence. They will then be sent on a nationally recognised training course before training alongside ambulance crews and then going ‘live’.

Michelle Brotherton, West Midlands Ambulance Service general manager for the West Mercia area, said: “Community First Responders are an integral part of the ambulance service. The work they do is outstanding and is greatly valued. It’s about giving something back to their local community.”

For more information, contact Noel Orbell on 07980 094808, 01384 215855 or CFRAdmin@wmas.nhs.uk