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Strategic Projects and Specialist Response
Co-responding...
Rob Cole, project lead for Hampshire Fire and Rescue, said:
“Staff from both Hampshire Ambulance and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are highly trained professionals who have the same commitment and dedication to saving the lives of people in Hampshire. This is a new and innovative initiative which uses skills and resources from both organisations with the aim of achieving a positive clinical outcome for patients within the communities in which we serve.”
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust started working together to improve patient care in Hampshire two years ago with Bordon, Romsey and New Milton being the first three fire stations involved in this life-saving initiative.
The co-responders are dispatched to incidents such as cardiac arrests, asthmatic attacks, collapses/falls, chest pains, breathing difficulties, accidents in the home, work, sport/leisure and public places and provide basic medical care until the arrival of an emergency ambulance. Clinical evidence proves that patients in a life-threatening situation who receive this rapid intervention have better chances of survival.
The aim of co-responding is to have a suitably trained person at the scene of an incident that is potentially life-threatening within 8 minutes. There are areas around Hampshire where the ambulance service has trouble achieving these response times, and the Fire Service, due to the location of rural stations, can often provide life-saving treatment a lot quicker.
As the trial proved so successful South Central Ambulance Service in consultation with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service identified three other areas with 'problem' response times - Hartley Wintney, Liphook and Hordean. At the end of 2005 these fire stations were asked if they would like to become part of the co-responding scheme. All three stations agreed and training was arranged to enable volunteers to start co-responding in mid-2006.
Training is provided by the ambulance service, which consists of two days intensive first aid training. The bulk of this is based around resuscitation and defibrillation. Re-certification and refresher training is given every six months.
The co-responder is mobilised by the Ambulance Control Centre. They receive the 999 call and once the call type has been identified they decide whether the co-responder will be mobilised.
Mobilisation is done by calling the duty co-responder on an Ambulance Service supplied mobile phone. Details are also backed up by an Ambulance Service supplied pager. The duty co-responder takes the vehicle home which speeds up the response time. The duty co-responder can use the vehicle but must stay within the response area. The response area for the co-responder mirrors that of the station's fire ground.
So upon receipt of a call they can simply jump into the vehicle and respond direct to the location of the call, as long as there are sufficient people available to crew the fire appliance, as crewing and mobilisation of Hampshire Fire and Rescue appliances will always take priority over the co-responder vehicle.
The first four people available will crew the fire appliance, and the co-responder vehicle would be made unavailable until a 5th crew member becomes available. Occasionally the co-responder will respond in pairs, if sufficient crew members are available.
The vehicles used are supplied by South Central Ambulance Service, they are new Renault Clio vans, with the exception of New Milton who have a sponsored vehicle supplied by a local Nissan car distributor. They are sign written with brigade and ambulance logos, along with 'Co-Responder' signs. and also have blue lights and sirens. The vehicle carries comprehensive equipment including:
You can find more information in our Community Projects pages about Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service working with partner agencies within the Local Area Agreement to improve speed of response to medical emergencies in Hampshire.
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co-responding
