ABOUT US
The University of Nottingham Co-Responders scheme is a group of healthcare students that volunteer their time attending 999 calls to assist the East Midlands Ambulance Service. Their role is to provide patients with emergency care before the arrival of an ambulance crew. They receive training on basic life support and other skills alongside their medically related degrees.
In early 2014, a Graduate Entry Medical (GEM) student approached the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and the Students Union with the view to creating a CFR (community first responder) scheme specifically for University of Nottingham students. The idea was well received and the scheme was up and running by April of that year. At the time, EMAS happened to be running a trial which saw them provide 15 CFR schemes across the region with a dedicated response car. The proposal to start the Nottingham University scheme thus came at a convenient time and we managed to secure the use of one of the trial vehicles. As the GEM course is based at the Medical School’s Royal Derby Hospital site the first car was based there and by November 2014 the scheme had grown to more than 40 student responders. This rapid growth lead us to seek a second vehicle which was provided to us on the agreement that the costs for the second car would be met by the scheme. This second vehicle was based at the Medical School at the QMC in Nottingham and doubled our capacity overnight. By the end of 2014 we had been to over 190 calls.
The scheme continued to flourish and in May 2018 we took delivery of two new response cars, generously funded by our partners and community fundraising. This allowed us more space for our current equipment, as well as the possibility for further expansion of skills and equipment in the future. The latest development to our scheme has been our transition from community first responders to co-responders, bringing with it new skills, equipment and responsibilities.
Since 2014, we have trained 173 Responders, been allocated over 11,000 jobs and have been first on scene to over 70% of them.
To keep up to date with our current news, feel free to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @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.
