Volunteer Centre West Berkshire are are supporting two exciting initiatives aimed to involve volunteers in schemes which will help to save lives in their communities. 

Community Responders are people who volunteer to help save lives in their community. There is good evidence to suggest that if people are trained to help someone whilst the ambulance is on the way, then more lives are saved.

Community Responders undergo a two-day, specially designed training course provided by the Royal Berkshire Ambulance NHS Trust in the essential skills needed for the role.

Learn Life-Saving Skills

The skills you will be taught include resuscitation techniques and the giving of oxygen. One of the most important pieces of equipment carried by the Responders is an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Defibrillators are designed to deliver a shock to a person whose heart has stopped, but unlike the units carried by Paramedics, the AED unit talks the Community Responder through the process and will not allow the Responder to deliver a shock to someone who does not need one.

Typically, Community Responders operate as a member of a scheme. A scheme is a group of 10 - 15 people who all live and / or work within about a 5 minute radius of each other. They are led by a member of the group who acts as coordinator. The group meets regularly to discuss call outs and also to plan when they can each be available.

Saving lives in your community...

If you are the duty Community Responder then you hold the duty phone and Responder bag with AED. When a call is received by ambulance control they send the ambulance and then, if it is a suitable call, they alert the duty Community Responder who lives or works close to where the emergency has occurred. The Community Responder then drives at normal road speed and provides assistance until the ambulance arrives.

A recent study in Canada shows that for every minute you wait for defibrillation when your heart stops you lose about 20% chance of survival. So a Community Responder arriving just two minutes before the ambulance could make a 40% difference to a person’s chance of survival.

Obviously it is a challenging role, but Community Responders are volunteers from all walks of life united by a common aim - to help save lives in the area where they live. If you drive, are over 18 and are reasonably fit, then why not see if there is a scheme operating in your area today!

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service are recruiting a number of community volunteers across West Berkshire to help promote their fire safety initiatives within their own communities through talks and manning their presence at events.

In this completely new position you will work in pairs to be a bridge between your village and their services, raising awareness and accessing otherwise difficult to reach sections of society such as the isolated, the elderly and low income. 

They hope that with your help they can offer free home safety advice to these groups which will result in a drop in house fires across the region. They expect further opportunities and developments to occur over the coming months so there is scope for this role to develop as much or as little as you wish.

Volunteers need to be confident and friendly, and enjoy communicating with individuals and groups. You must have own transport and have regular access to email.

They are initially looking to recruit in these key areas: Lambourn, Hungerford, East/West Ilsley and Compton. Ideally volunteers will live within these communities and they are hoping to recruit a pair to serve each area.

For more information:

• email jacqui@nvb1.fsnet.co.uk, or

• call us on 01635 49004