Recruitment drive for Community First Responders in these five areas of Sunderland

Life-saving volunteers are being sought for areas of Wearside.

North East Ambulance Service is targeting five areas across Sunderland to expand its army of volunteer community first responders in a bid to save more lives.

The service says it is looking for community first responders in five locations across the city to volunteer their time, to save more lives and support more patients.

Community First Responders (CFR) are deployed to incidents at the same time as an ambulance is dispatched, to provide vital life-saving care and support, or simply a reassuring face, in the crucial minutes between a 999 call being made and the arrival of the crew.    

North East Ambulance Service has over more than CFRs who offer around 29,000 hours of their own time to help their local communities by attending more than 1,400 incidents. To help expand out resource in Sunderland, the new areas identified for the new CFR schemes are:

• Sunderland and Centre area
• Houghton Le Spring
• Penshaw
• Hetton
• Washington

Stephen Segasby, Chief Operating Officer at North East Ambulance Service said: “Living within the communities they serve, they can often be on scene almost immediately, providing basic life support, observations and initial treatment whilst the ambulance crews are travelling. They also often remain on scene, offering a much-appreciated extra pair of hands to the attending crew. Their contribution really does save lives, can reduce pain, prevent or reduce hospital stays and provide reassurance to those requiring emergency care.

“It’s fantastic to be able to develop our community first responder scheme further and we look forward to welcoming our new volunteers into our service.”

Recruitment of the new CFRs is now open and closes on 12 April and training will take place over the coming months. For more information on the role, visit https://www.neas.nhs.uk/your-service/community-first-responders

To apply, visit https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Tyne_Wear/North_East_England/North_East_Ambulance_Service_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Community_First_Responder/Community_First_Responder-v6144895?set-locale=en-gb&_ts=1