First Responders - GO!

Just recently there was a post on the Small City Facebook page from a man called Richard Stibbles; he requested I share his post asking for donations for the First Responders Unit in Perth. Now, I had no reason to doubt that this was entirely genuine but as I wasn’t sure what the First Responders actually offered the good people of Perth and Kinross (as it turns out they are an amazing service) I got my investigating hat dusted off and set about finding out. 

Perth has had a First Responders Unit since 2011 and this amazing team of community volunteers are made up of people like you and me, ordinary Joes, who give up their time to support their local area by responding to medical emergencies while the ambulance is on its way. The idea is that these volunteers are based in local communities and can often be at the scene quicker than an ambulance can.  I’m going to be honest – my initial reaction was to ask why they’d be quicker… why not just send an ambulance?

The truth is, for many reasons, our Scottish Paramedic service is stretched and the amazing men and women in the green jumpsuits are needed to deliver critical care across a vast geographical area and deal with a huge array of emergency situations on a day to day basis.  The time spent with an individual person can literally be hours and when you add in dealing with a major accidents or remote emergencies you will begin to realise the pressures the service is under.

Enter the First Responders!  In 1990 Dr Richard Cummins from Seattle, USA discovered if a series of events took place, in a set sequence, a patient suffering from a heart attack stood a greater chance of survival.  These events are now known as the 'Chain of Survival' and can be initiated by First Responders while awaiting the arrival of the Paramedic Team. In short, they could save your life. And because First Responders only deal with the initial stages of treatment, they can be finished up and ready to move to the next job. They are also invaluable in the event of a major accident where there may be multiple casualties and will often go out with the Paramedics to assist at incidents that may require additional hands to help.

The team in Perth are based at Perth Ambulance Station and log in with East Ambulance Control in South Queensferry.   There is a regular group of volunteers who meet fortnightly for practice and ongoing training and members include a House of Bruar Salesman, a fireman, a trolleyman for Asda and a PRI maintenance coordinator. Like I said – all walks of life!

You don’t need to have had years of first aid experience or an undying desire to become Florence Nightingale; you just have to want to be willing to train in basic life support and commit to offering up a few hours each month to help.   People might do one shift a month or one shift a week – whatever their lifestyle can offer. Each member of the team gives their schedule and the ‘on-call rota is divided between all the volunteers. They aim to have 24 hour cover, seven days a week.

If you wanted to become a Community First Responder you would be PVG checked (to make sure you’re one of the good guys!) and willing to attend a four day training course and the fortnightly meetings.  If you already have first aid qualifications then so much the better but all First Responders will undergo IHCD (Institute of Health Care & Development) FPOS (First Person on Scene) Basic training which has been devised in association with the Royal College of Surgeons.

Richard and the team in Perth are experts in emergency skills and use specialised equipment such as automatic external defibrillators and oxygen therapy.  Their call outs might include chest pain, cardiac arrest, difficulty in breathing or choking, medical collapse or unconscious patients.    They will administer the first steps in the Chain of Survival and I’m sure you’ll agree, just the sight of a green and yellow jacket can calm even the most hairy of situations!

This video is all about the remote team up North but you get the jist!

GET INVOLVED!

If you’d like to volunteer the first step is to get registered.  Send an initial enquiry via the Scottish Ambulance Service website here.

The team are currently fundraising because although supplies and consumables are provided by Scottish Ambulance Service the unit require funds to keep the service running and supply everyone with uniform. They would like to purchase technology that would allow them to be dispatched more efficiently and effectively as well as equipment for training to save lives.

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