Harpenden has recently welcomed three Community First Responders (CFRs) volunteering with the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST), marking a significant development for the town.

CFRs are local volunteers trained by EEAST to provide crucial emergency medical assistance in the first vital minutes before an ambulance arrives, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality care to vulnerable patients. We attend potentially life-threatening emergencies such as cardiac arrests, breathing difficulties, strokes and diabetic emergencies.

As locals, CFRs are likely to provide a faster response than the ambulance service and play a pivotal role in enhancing patient outcomes, especially in cases of cardiac arrest, where timely intervention significantly impacts survival rates.

Most CFR schemes, including EEAST, receive basic initial funding from the Ambulance Trust and then rely heavily on the generosity of the community they serve to meet its ongoing needs.

To ensure the continued operation and future expansion of the CFR Harpenden team, we need to raise enough funds to purchase equipment to enable all three Harpenden CFRs to volunteer, providing greater coverage to the area.

99% of every £1 you donate goes towards purchasing essential equipment that helps us save lives.

We are grateful for your support, and together, we can make a significant impact in enabling us to respond promptly and efficiently to emergencies in our community. We have compiled a list to show you how your contribution can help us save lives.

Donations will go towards our life-saving equipment: AEDs, Blood Pressure machines, Thermometers, Pulse Oximeters, kit bags and dispatch phones.

No donation is too small.

Thank you for your generosity.