When a patient faces a serious emergency, every second counts for them and a simple helping hand from a Community First Responder can make a vital difference to their lives.

Community First Responders in Wales are volunteers who donate their spare time to attend appropriate 999 calls and provide first hand emergency care to people in their own community.

When a 999 call is made, Community First Responders are alerted by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust's three Clinical Control Centres and are sent to specific types of calls in their local areas where they live and work, often attending the scene of an emergency within a few minutes providing essential care until a clinician reaches the scene.

You do not need to have any previous medical training to become a community first responder (CFR). Volunteers are from all backgrounds including teachers, farmers, nurses, and people who have retired and looking for a new challenge.

Volunteers should:

• Enjoy a challenge
• Be good under pressure and remain calm in an emergency
• Be proud of the community in which you live and want to give something back
• Have free time to spare
• Be willing and ready to learn essential lifesaving skills
• Have a full driving licence
• Be physically fit
• Over the age of eighteen

Community First Responders are trained and supported by annual in-service training by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Training consists of a five-day course covering anatomy, physiology, traumatic and medical emergencies, basic life support and defibrillation.

Find out more here.