Press release: New volunteer lifesavers join Norfolk CFRs

A network of lifesavers in Norfolk has been boosted after the latest volunteers completed their training to enable them to attend emergencies in their communities. Eleven new community first responders (CFR) completed their training at Longwater ambulance station, near Norwich, who will be based with groups across the county.

The responders put through an 18-hour course by staff at the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) over the space of a weekend, which involved them learning how to assess patients and vital lifesaving skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using a defibrillator. The 11 new CFRs are Millie MacDonald, Sam Mayall, Teresa Jordan, Kara Chaplin, and John Taylor, who have joined the SOS Bus in Norwich, Chris Goodwin, Hunstanton, Marcus Roper, Cromer, Elizabeth Martin, Tacolneston, Owen Liberman, Sheringham, Chris Thorpe, Dereham, and Rachel Brown, Brundall.

The CFRs are trained in basic life support and attend medical emergencies such as cardiac arrests in their communities.

Their aim is to reach a potential life threatening emergency in the first vital minutes before the ambulance crew arrives on scene.

There are currently 68 CFR groups in Norfolk.

Andrew Barlow, EEAST Community Partnership Manager for Norfolk and north Cambridgshire, said: “First responders provide a vital lifesaving service in their communities in the crucial first minutes of a life-threatening emergency.

“These new recruits will help strengthen a number of CFR groups in Norfolk to enable them to enhance the cover they offer to EEAST on a daily basis.

“A number of CFRs have gone on to join the Trust’s student paramedic programme and we are very grateful for the commitment shown by these latest volunteers.”

For more information about the work of CFRs and how to join, visit http://www.eastamb.nhs.uk/get-involved/community-first-responders.htm