Big Society alive and well in Tonbridge....

Is this what David Cameron is talking about when he speaks of The Big Society? Actually I don't like that soundbite of a phrase but can't see much wrong with this particular voluntary service which can, quite literally, save lives. I've been sent some blurb by the local team leader. Now Tonbridge Blog doesn't normally just publish verbatim stuff that people send in but, in this case, I'm making an exception so deal with it!

Community responders have been operating within the South

East since December 2000. The schemes were first introduced

in an effort to provide early pre-hospital care to communities we

have particular difficulty in reaching within those life critical early

minutes following cardiac arrest, a heart attack, patients who

are unconscious or suffering any other form of life threatening

illness or injury.

Whilst South East Coast Ambulance Service performs very well, we have to recognise

that there are some areas within the community that are extremely difficult to reach quickly. Even if we significantly increased our ambulance resources, we would still not be able to deliver the

speed of response necessary to get to some patients with life threatening conditions. This

is where the role of the community responder is vital.

Volunteer responders receive training in basic life support and in the use of an automatic

defibrillator (machine to shock the heart) by the Ambulance Service. The 999 Emergency

Dispatch Centre (EDC) is then able to send a community responder to life threatening

calls within their local community, to provide the care and comfort necessary whilst the

ambulance is on its way. Community responders are not a substitute for the ambulance

crews, but are an added bonus for any patient they may attend. Working with the

Ambulance Service, community responders can ‘buy time’ for the patient until the crew

arrives. Since December 2000 over 7000 patients throughout the South East Coast area

have already benefited from the intervention of community responders.

Our aim within South East Coast Ambulance is to provide the appropriate care to life

threatening emergency calls within 8 minutes. Sometimes, particularly in the case of

cardiac arrest calls, this can still be too long and this is where the community responder

role is of particular benefit.

There is currently only one community responder in the Tonbridge area however we have at least three people waiting to be trained and consequently start their role as a volunteer. The training to become a community responder is funded by the ambulance service, however the cost of the kit for each responder has to be raised by their local scheme. The cost of each kit is approximately £1700, thereofre I would be extremely pleased to hear from anyone who might be able to help with a donation or even to help with fund raising. Additionally if anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer responder and would like more details, please contact the Tonbridge team leader, Claudine Phillips on 07859 933640