Community response

Our community first responders are volunteers who are trained by our Community Response team to attend certain types of emergency calls in the area where they live or work. Their aim is to reach a potential life threatening emergency in the first vital minutes while the ambulance crew travel to the scene.

Co-responders are like community first responders but are usually members of other emergency services, who when available respond to emergency calls for us as part of their normal employment, in a vehicle supplied by their employer. We have co-responders all over the area we cover.

This is a partnership scheme between EMAS and the fire services within our region. 

Emergency First Responders (EFR) are fire fighters who respond in an emergency fire service car or engine truck to calls for EMAS, in a similar way to a community first responder. The difference is that EFRs are permitted to use the warning systems (lights and sirens) on their fire service vehicle. 

Medical first responders are medically trained such as our technicians or paramedics who respond to emergency incidents in their own time. These responders have the added benefit of providing additional treatment options over and above those provided by CFR schemes. 

This staff group is permitted to have blue lights and audible warnings fitted to their vehicles unlike CFRs.

If you work for us and wish to become a MFR then contact your team leader.

The JACP involves some EFRs being mobilised to medical incidents in an ambulance vehicle. At the same time, an EMAS paramedic also responds to the incident in a fast response vehicle (FRV). The paramedic assesses if the patient needs to go to hospital, and if so, travels with the patient in the ambulance providing any necessary treatment en route. The members of the JACP crew follows the ambulance to hospital in the FRV allowing both the paramedic and JACP crew to be available for other emergency calls sooner. The main difference between current practice and the JACP is that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue staff are able convey a patient to hospital.

This collaborative approach aims to support more timely patient conveyance whilst ensuring the highest level of clinical intervention possible, therefore supporting better recovery and improved chances of survival for patients.

When someone suffers sudden cardiac arrest, prompt action by anyone nearby offers their only chance of survival. An immediate 999 call for an ambulance and starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately are essential. Most people who survive will have needed a shock from a defibrillator to correct a chaotic heart rhythm.

Our Community Response team can provide support and advice with obtaining a defibrillator or a Community Public Access Defibrillator (CPAD).

Also registering your defibrillator could save precious time in an emergency. If it is registered when a call is placed for your address we can advise the caller to fetch the defibrillator to use on the patient. Registering is free and does not replace the need for an ambulance response.

To register your defibrillator please visit www.TheCircuit.uk with the following information to hand:

• its location and surroundings
• brand, model and serial number (usually on the front or back of your defibrillator)
• times when its accessible
• pads expiry dates
• confirm it is displaying its ready signal
• access code (if applicable)