ABOUT US
The University of Nottingham Co-Responders (UoNCR) scheme is a group of University of Nottingham Students, predominantly studying Medicine who volunteer their time to attend 999 calls across the East Midlands, most often in Nottingham, in partnership with East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS). Our role is to provide emergency and life-saving care to patients before or alongside frontline ambulance crews. Our responders receive comprehensive training, further to their Medicine course, on Basic Life Support (BLS) and key skills such as haemorrhage control, oxygen provision and airway management.
We are incredibly proud of our scheme and it's history. In 2014, a Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) Student approached EMAS and the Students Union at Nottingham with the view to create a Community First Responder (CFR) scheme specifically for University of Nottingham Students. The idea was well received and the scheme was operational by April 2014. Our scheme was fortunate enough to be one of 15 CFR schemes across the region to be provided with a dedicated response car. Our scheme initially operated from the Royal Derby Hospital as this was the home for the GEM course at the time. By November 2014, over 40 responders had joined the scheme. Our rapid growth paved the way to acquire our second response vehicle, which was to be based at the Medical School in Nottingham, near to Queens Medical Centre (QMC). As 2014 drew to an end, the scheme had already attended over 190 calls.
Our scheme continued to flourish and in May 2018 we took delivery of two new response cars. Since then in 2021, we have had another car join our scheme. Our three response cars, generously funded by our partners and community fundraising have allowed our scheme to continue to develop into what it is today. Alongside a new response car, 2021 saw another exciting change for our scheme as we transitioned from a CFR scheme to a Co-Responder scheme. With this, our scheme gained new skills, equipment and clinical responsibilities.
Since 2014, our scheme has trained over 300 Responders, been allocated to over 16,000 emergency calls and been first on scene in over 70% of those! Our scheme is always looking to improve and 2026 will bring a range of exciting developments that we can't wait to share with you. To keep updated on our scheme, look at our news section and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X on our accounts @UoNResponders
OUR PARTNERS
From providing equipment and training, to clinical governance and adminstration support, the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) have been instrumental in establishing and operating the scheme.
Affiliation with the Student's Union has ensured our project is run with sound administration governance and guidelines. The leadership training provided will ensure the scheme is run efficiently and continuity is maintained.
The publicity help and advice provided by the University of Nottingham has ensured news and exposure of our project has spread. They have also provided valuable facilities for training and meetings. We were lucky enough to be awarded a grant of £7,000 from the Impact Campaign which has made this project possible. The generous donations of alumni, staff and friends of the University of Nottingham contribute to this fund.
