Two Community First Responders from Ettington CFR Team recently gained front-line experience when they joined WMAS ambulance crews based at Stratford-upon-Avon ambulance station.

Russ Inman spent a 12-hour shift with a two-person crew. During the shift, the crew were called to a number of incidents; all of which involved transfer of the patients to hospital. Russ said; “This was extremely valuable front-line experience which gave me a different perspective to the work of the crews. As CFRs, we generally see only the ‘front-end’ of the emergency incident as we don’t get involved in the transfer of the patient to hospital. It was also interesting to attend incidents under ‘blues and twos’ and gave me a much better understanding of what the crews need from a CFR on arrival at an incident and how we can best assist the crews on scene. To that end, it was a unique opportunity to gain ‘hands-on’ experience as, under strict supervision from the crew, I was able to directly assist with the treatment that the crew gave the patients on scene and in transit to A&E. It gave me an even deeper appreciation for the tremendous work that the WMAS crews do every day of their shifts. I’m very grateful to the crew for their ‘on the job’ training, support and patience during the day and for integrating me into their work”.

Gill Castle spend a 12-hour shift with a Paramedic Officer in the Fast Response Vehicle. This is one of a number of four-wheel drive vehicles based at Stratford-upon-Avon which are crewed by a single Paramedic and provide a rapid response to serious incidents. During her shift, Gill attended a number of emergency incidents and assisted the Paramedic in treating the patients on scene. Like Russ, Gill commented that this provided her with a huge amount of experience which will be of significant value when working alongside the crews in the future.

Ettington CFR Team is very grateful to the WMAS personnel who supported this initiative. This includes the crews at Stratford-upon-Avon with which our CFRs worked directly, the other crews who were on shift on these days and made our team members welcome and the Group Station Officer. As part of our training and development programme, Ettington CFR team intends to schedule further training shifts with WMAS crews for other team members.