VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDERSPRE-HOSPITAL EMERGENCY CAREGIVERSWHY ARE WE OUT THERE
First Responders:Answer the call to life-threatening emergencies
in advance of the ambulance's arrival
providing the best opportunity of survival for the patient
What is a Volunteer First Responder:A Volunteer First Responder.
is a local volunteer who agrees to undertake extensive training
in order to be able to provide life saving treatment
to those people within their community who are injured or sick.Why do you need Volunteer First Responders:We know that in many medical emergencies and accidents,
people can die within the first few minutes.
We also know that:
if certain critical interventions can be performed
within those first few minutes
that a life can be saved and disabilities reduced.
This is especially true for,
heart attacks, choking, strokes and head injuries
The ambulance service cannot get to
every 111 call within a few minutes.
It may take some time, especially in country areas such as ours.
There is a period of time between the 111 call being made
and the ambulance arriving,
at which time little or no emergency care takes place.
This time period has been called the 'therapeutic vacuum'.
We now know that volunteer first responders
can take up this vacuum and provide
essential treatment in those first crucial few minutes.Taranaki District Health Boards Ambulance Service:The Ambulance Service consists of 28 paid staff
and approximately 110 Volunteer Ambulance Officers throughout the province.
Ambulance stations are based at
New Plymouth, Inglewood, Stratford, Hawera, Opunake and Patea.
There are Ambulance First Responder teams at:
Waitara, Urenui, Whangamomona and Okato
Taranaki District Health Boards Ambulance service, provides training
in association with the Auckland University of Technology, to all volunteers.
The qualifications they achieve are on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework
and include the Certificate in Ambulance (Primary Care)
and the National Certificate in Ambulance (Patient Care and Transport).
Taranaki volunteers are highly thought of nationally because of the standard of training
and commitment they provide.
Active recruiting of volunteers is an ongoing occurrence
and interested people can seek information by contacting the
Ambulance Communications Centre on 0800 735 466.
