The Community First Responder (CFR) scheme is a life-saving partnership between the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and local communities. As authorised volunteers for the ambulance service, CFRs help to reduce the number of pre-hospital deaths. The team in Sesay was established by residents in 2011, and at its height, had an active team of nine volunteers from the community.
When a 999 call is received in our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), an ambulance response is dispatched. At the same time, a CFR on-call in the area can be alerted and asked to attend the incident to ensure that help reaches the patient as quickly as possible.
CFRs are trained to provide life-saving treatment to patients in the vital first few minutes of an emergency until our ambulance crew arrives. If effective treatment is provided promptly, lives can be saved, and disability can be reduced. This is especially true for heart attacks and medical conditions which have caused someone to lose consciousness.
As the volunteers are based within the community, they may only be a minute or two away from a medical emergency,
