Any Ambulance Staff? (Esp any Community 1st Responders)

West

West

West

Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2004
Posts
9,173
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
Hi Folks,

As some of you may know, i've been working for West Midlands Ambo service now for a few months, and now that i've settled in, i've decided to do the other side of things, actually becoming a CFR.

Anyone here ever done this? just interested in hearing some of your experiences..
 
m@rty said:
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a CFR? :)
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Community First Responder. A Voluntary job within communities that are called upon to give life saving aid to anyone who needs it, especially for those that live a fair away from a major town.

A normal ambulance can take 8 minutes to get to a life threatening situation, but once it's established that a patient is potentially in cardiac arrest, every minute 14% is cut off the chances of survival if aid isn't given.

And in the area I live, the nearest Station is 5 miles away.. and I can get to anywhere within the village inside 2 minutes :)
 
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West said:
My official title is an EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatcher) basically, I take 999 calls for WMAS.

Soon to be moving over to Radio Operation though :)
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Just out of interest what does a Radio Operator do?
 
Peve said:
Just out of interest what does a Radio Operator do?
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Operates the radio for Ambulances, same as the Police really, giving information to crews etc..

It's a 2 pronged position, you also do the dispatch side of it which involves assigning calls to drivers etc
 
West said:
A normaly ambulance can take 8 minutes to get to a life threatening situation, but once it's established that a patient is potentially in cardiac arrest, every minute 14% is cut off the chances of survival if aid isn't given.
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C'mon, you should know that the ORCON targets are pretty arbitrary. They're useful for only a handful of cases and the whole point of ORCON is a silly way of the government having a performance target. In fact the fact that ORCON is such as high priority for Ambulance trust means that patient care is being degraded due to there being less two teamed ambulance crews and more FRUs.

Burnsy
 
Burnsy2023 said:
C'mon, you should know that the ORCON targets are pretty arbitrary. They're useful or only a handful of cases and the whole point of ORCON is a silly way of the government having a performance target. In fact the fact that ORCON is such as high priority for Ambulance trust means that patient care is being degraded due to there being less two teamed ambulance crews and more FRUs.

Burnsy
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True, but we still have to run off those figures albeit they are a load of pap esp when it comes to Non life threatening stuff. There are some stats esp the Pick-Up to Pre alert that need kicking into touch.

Regardless, it's not the point of the thread :p
 
Andr3w said:
This may not answer your question but i admire what you do :)
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What he said. We had one of those come out for my Dad so there was someone there for a few minutes before the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately nothing could be done to save him, but I think it certainly helped me and my Mum know that he had the best chance of surviving. Amazing how a few minutes can feel like forever in a situation like that.

Good luck with it :)
 
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My old man is a Paramedic, he has been for over 20 years. He drives one of the Rapid response units which get to people quicker than an Ambulance.
 
How do Rapid Response units operate anyway? Do they have a set area they patrol constantly? Had to call an ambulance for someone who collapsed once and they sent a Rapid Response car which lived up to its name since it arrived insanely fast.
 
hey, I did a first aid course for the red cross and there was a guy there that did this. What kind of info you looking for? He told me some stories, he dealt with a lot more than what people think, he was in the sticks so he was at times waiting for over half an hour before the ambulance came. He said he dealt mainly with car crashes and provided support to the ambulance crew, like holding the patients head still while the crew worked on them or assising in moving patients. He did do a lot of heart attacks as well, using a defib and manual resuscitation. He said the worst things were of course when the patients die, but said it what made it more difficult was when the patients entire family was right there watching it all happen and your the only one there as the amblo hasnt made it yet.

I really fancy doing it myself but I think theres an age restriction :/ im looking to be a paramedic one day so any more experience is always great. Good luck!
 
Soviet said:
How do Rapid Response units operate anyway? Do they have a set area they patrol constantly? Had to call an ambulance for someone who collapsed once and they sent a Rapid Response car which lived up to its name since it arrived insanely fast.
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I don't know the specifics I have been there though when he has received a call to go somewhere.

The car he drives is a Ford Focus but it is modded with a turbo and a bunch of other useful features. It is really quick.

The ambulance crew receive a radio call as normal at the station and my dad has a mobile with him so if he is away or wherever he usually is they ring that and he just heads straight off.

He will just get a call and be told where to go, I'm 100% certain there is a radius where they cover but it would be the same as the ambulances as they are based at the same place.
 
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