DROITWICH Community First Responders (CFR) – the second busiest in West Mercia for ‘Category One’ ambulance calls – urgently needs funding so it can maintain the service it offers.
Last month, the town’s CFRs attended 31 calls which are considered being ‘an immediate threat to life’ – in some areas, responders only receive one-a-month.
The calls are mainly taken from Droitwich and Bromsgrove but some are for other areas in West Mercia due to stretched recourses.
James Macdonald, Droitwich CFR chairman, said: “We try to only deal with category ones calls as we are that busy of an area if we also booked on to category two calls, we would not be able to treat the people in the most life-threatening positions.”
Jatinderpal Singh, who received Category One call help from the Droitwich CFRs, said: “Within a few minutes of my dad calling 999, James did whatever he needed to save me and make me feel comfortable before the paramedics came.”
CFRs are first-aid-trained volunteers who aim to arrive on the scene within three to four minutes of receiving a call to provide immediate medical care while an ambulance is en-route.
Their availability, ten-minute proximity to victims and local knowledge often makes them vital to assess people in the first moments after an incident.
One volunteer CFR, Sophie Wright, said statistics made sense with the amount of time the team dedicated, but she was surprised that particular month, only two responders were on duty.
Appealing for funding, James said: “It feels good we are offering this, but I don’t know how long we will be able to carry on.”
The CFRs are currently trying to get charity status so they can apply for grants to get more equipment and, hopefully, another responding car.
Since the group was set up just a year ago, funds have mainly been taken out of James’ pocket and through kind donations from local businesses and organisations.
But this is not enough to cover the car’s running costs, which can be £6,000-a-year, and more regulated-grade medical equipment is needed.
Visit facebook.com/DroitwichCFR for more information.
