My name is David Galloway and I am a Community First Responder in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, I am part of a team of volunteers that work for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, we respond to Emergency calls within our community and extended areas of South Yorkshire, we run solely on generous contributions from sponsors within our area.
The Community First Responder (CFR) scheme is a life-saving partnership between Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) and local communities.

As authorised volunteers for YAS, Community First Responders form teams located in communities across Yorkshire as part of a wider initiative which aims to help reduce the number of pre-hospital deaths in Yorkshire.

Volunteers living in local communities across the region are trained to provide life-saving treatment to residents in their area in the vital first minutes of an emergency until our ambulance clinicians arrive.

YAS is committed to providing the high quality services to and care to all those living in, or passing through, Yorkshire and this initiative undoubtedly helps to achieve this.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service operates a Community First Responder (CFR) scheme where volunteers are trained to use life-saving skills in their local area.

In many medical emergencies the first few minutes are critical and if effective treatment can be provided at this time, lives can be saved and disability reduced. This is especially true for heart attacks and medical conditions that have caused someone to lose consciousness.

Our CFRs are trained in basic life support (BLS) skills including cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), defibrillation and oxygen therapy and are equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED) oxygen and a first aid kit.

When a 999 call is received in our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), an ambulance response is dispatched. At the same time a CFR, on-call in the area, can be alerted and asked to assist at the incident.