Abelrider
Guest
Some of you know I wear a uniform at work most days.
However most of you wont know tho, that I wear a different uniform in my spare time as an unpaid volunteer for the "First Response" charity.
Introduction:
A few years ago the idea to train a team of military personnel in Trauma Care, Advanced Life Support (ALS) and to drive on blue lights and sirens all to Ambulance Standard seemed like a bit of a crazy one. Could it be possible to put a team together of individuals from various trades, sections & units and operate alongside the daily running of the Ambulance Service. Well thousands of Emergency calls later the answer is YES.
Who? - What? - Why?
Several years ago an incident occurred involving a serviceman, who's father died of a heart attack, it took 15 minutes before medical aid attended, by which time sadly it was to late. A need was clearly identified that in certain rural and inner city areas the response time and availability of the already stretched ambulance service was clearly a cause for concern. Population is on the increase and people are generally living longer but illness, accident and injury's are still occurring and constantly putting the Ambulance Service under strain. As a result of this 'First Response' was born.
Training:
The plan was to train a team of responders in Trauma Care, Advanced Life Support (ALS) including the use of Defibrillators (Machines which shock the heart into a normal rhythm) and First Aid. This training would be given by the Ambulance service and be carried out in an intensive weeklong course, furthering the basic first aid skills every service person is trained in. The teams would then operate from various RAF stations throughout the UK.
Blues & Twos:
The necessity once trained to respond to emergency calls within the nationally recognised '8 minute' window required training in High Speed Driving on blue lights and sirens. Again this training was undertaken by Ambulance service driving instructors and a final test under the watchful eye of the Police.
The Technical Bit:
With training complete and personnel donning first green and now blue uniforms, the First Response teams finally went live. Equipment was stowed in the boot of brand new Fiat Response Cars, which in turn were equipped with blue lights, sirens and the obligatory high visibility stripes.
Ambulance standard radio and Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) ensured that Ambulance control could keep track of position and update on any emergency calls requiring attendance. In addition to this the car is fitted with satellite navigation, again this proves invaluable when locating incidents and addresses.
How It Works:
So how does it work? Most towns have an ambulance station, but what happens when that ambulance goes out on an emergency call? Usually another ambulance is tasked to cover that area, but what happens if that ambulance is then tasked with another emergency call?, You can see now that it is possible to have areas with little or no emergency medical cover. This is where First Response helps out. By providing essential cover operating from ambulance stations and high-risk black spots, often jumping from ambulance station to station providing medical cover for those areas. Should a call come in the team is then tasked to attend under blue lights and sirens and start the treatment cycle in those vital minutes before an ambulance is able to attend and convey the patient to hospital if required. In some cases it is not able to provide treatment, but via a direct link to ambulance control it is possible to update ambulance crews with valuable information prior to arrival, this includes the requirement for Police and Fire services if needed.
How we are funded:
'First Response' is a registered charity and as such receives no official funding from the MoD/RAF or the Ambulance Service. Relying totally on support and fund raising from within the communities that it serves. Monies raised are used to purchase essential kit including uniform, medical bags and contents, and more recently a Training Defibrillator. Future plans are to obtain new Response Cars to replace the the ageing fleet (The suffolk Fiat Stilo, based at RAF Honington, has in 4 years of service on the scheme already completed over 130,000 miles.)
24 Hour Cover:
One of the questions that we are always getting asked is "Do we provide a 24hr service?". Well quite frankly, no. We cant. First Response was set up to operate outside of our normal working day, and it is important not to interfere with our primary roles within the Forces.
Therefore we operate the following shifts:
Sunday to Thursday 18:00 - 0:00
Friday 18:00 - 02:00
Saturday 12:00 - 02:00
Does It Work?
So the big question is 'Does It Work?' Well, Marham's First Response along with its sister schemes currently running at Coltishall and Honington have recently been praised by the East Anglian Ambulance Service for helping the service to meet the national response times laid down by the government. And in providing a high standard of patient care including emergency treatment where needed.
The charity is constantly expanding to rise to the challange of saving lives within the community it serves. It is also soon to become the managing body for numerous community based lay-responder (members of the public trained in basic life suppost and the use of auto defibrilators) schemes.
So what can you do to help?
This kit saves lifes. Plain and simple.
Unfortunately, it also costs money.
PLEASE click on the pictures below, and give as little or as much as you can afford.
Sorry for the begging letter type approach, but we are drastically underfunded, and who knows, it could be your life your contribution saves.
More info can be found at:
http://www.first-response.org.uk/index.html
http://www.rafmarham.co.uk/relations/charities/first-response/index.htm
Much of the above text and pictures are taken from the RAF Marham responder website for which I make no apologies. Its fer charridee afterall.
However most of you wont know tho, that I wear a different uniform in my spare time as an unpaid volunteer for the "First Response" charity.
Introduction:
A few years ago the idea to train a team of military personnel in Trauma Care, Advanced Life Support (ALS) and to drive on blue lights and sirens all to Ambulance Standard seemed like a bit of a crazy one. Could it be possible to put a team together of individuals from various trades, sections & units and operate alongside the daily running of the Ambulance Service. Well thousands of Emergency calls later the answer is YES.
Who? - What? - Why?
Several years ago an incident occurred involving a serviceman, who's father died of a heart attack, it took 15 minutes before medical aid attended, by which time sadly it was to late. A need was clearly identified that in certain rural and inner city areas the response time and availability of the already stretched ambulance service was clearly a cause for concern. Population is on the increase and people are generally living longer but illness, accident and injury's are still occurring and constantly putting the Ambulance Service under strain. As a result of this 'First Response' was born.
Training:
The plan was to train a team of responders in Trauma Care, Advanced Life Support (ALS) including the use of Defibrillators (Machines which shock the heart into a normal rhythm) and First Aid. This training would be given by the Ambulance service and be carried out in an intensive weeklong course, furthering the basic first aid skills every service person is trained in. The teams would then operate from various RAF stations throughout the UK.
Blues & Twos:
The necessity once trained to respond to emergency calls within the nationally recognised '8 minute' window required training in High Speed Driving on blue lights and sirens. Again this training was undertaken by Ambulance service driving instructors and a final test under the watchful eye of the Police.
The Technical Bit:
With training complete and personnel donning first green and now blue uniforms, the First Response teams finally went live. Equipment was stowed in the boot of brand new Fiat Response Cars, which in turn were equipped with blue lights, sirens and the obligatory high visibility stripes.
Ambulance standard radio and Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) ensured that Ambulance control could keep track of position and update on any emergency calls requiring attendance. In addition to this the car is fitted with satellite navigation, again this proves invaluable when locating incidents and addresses.
How It Works:
So how does it work? Most towns have an ambulance station, but what happens when that ambulance goes out on an emergency call? Usually another ambulance is tasked to cover that area, but what happens if that ambulance is then tasked with another emergency call?, You can see now that it is possible to have areas with little or no emergency medical cover. This is where First Response helps out. By providing essential cover operating from ambulance stations and high-risk black spots, often jumping from ambulance station to station providing medical cover for those areas. Should a call come in the team is then tasked to attend under blue lights and sirens and start the treatment cycle in those vital minutes before an ambulance is able to attend and convey the patient to hospital if required. In some cases it is not able to provide treatment, but via a direct link to ambulance control it is possible to update ambulance crews with valuable information prior to arrival, this includes the requirement for Police and Fire services if needed.
How we are funded:
'First Response' is a registered charity and as such receives no official funding from the MoD/RAF or the Ambulance Service. Relying totally on support and fund raising from within the communities that it serves. Monies raised are used to purchase essential kit including uniform, medical bags and contents, and more recently a Training Defibrillator. Future plans are to obtain new Response Cars to replace the the ageing fleet (The suffolk Fiat Stilo, based at RAF Honington, has in 4 years of service on the scheme already completed over 130,000 miles.)
24 Hour Cover:
One of the questions that we are always getting asked is "Do we provide a 24hr service?". Well quite frankly, no. We cant. First Response was set up to operate outside of our normal working day, and it is important not to interfere with our primary roles within the Forces.
Therefore we operate the following shifts:
Sunday to Thursday 18:00 - 0:00
Friday 18:00 - 02:00
Saturday 12:00 - 02:00
Does It Work?
So the big question is 'Does It Work?' Well, Marham's First Response along with its sister schemes currently running at Coltishall and Honington have recently been praised by the East Anglian Ambulance Service for helping the service to meet the national response times laid down by the government. And in providing a high standard of patient care including emergency treatment where needed.
The charity is constantly expanding to rise to the challange of saving lives within the community it serves. It is also soon to become the managing body for numerous community based lay-responder (members of the public trained in basic life suppost and the use of auto defibrilators) schemes.
So what can you do to help?
This kit saves lifes. Plain and simple.
Unfortunately, it also costs money.
PLEASE click on the pictures below, and give as little or as much as you can afford.
Sorry for the begging letter type approach, but we are drastically underfunded, and who knows, it could be your life your contribution saves.
More info can be found at:
http://www.first-response.org.uk/index.html
http://www.rafmarham.co.uk/relations/charities/first-response/index.htm
Much of the above text and pictures are taken from the RAF Marham responder website for which I make no apologies. Its fer charridee afterall.
