The East of England First Response scheme has now been in existence for approximately 6 years and
provides unpaid volunteers from HM Forces to provide a dynamic Emergency Responder Service to the local community in cooperation with the
East of England Ambulance Service.
Whilst most medical emergencies are attended, the scheme was initiated primarily to assist cardiac related incidents and the
most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest is ventricular fibrillation. This is a rapid, chaotic, lethal rhythm of the heart and
in this condition the heart is unable to pump life-sustaining oxygen to the brain and other vital organs. Death occurs within minutes
unless the normal rhythm is restored by defibrillation which is the only treatment that can restart the heart and restore a normal heart
rhythm in these circumstances.
The scientific evidence to support early defibrillation is overwhelming, the single most important determinant of survival being the
delay from collapse to delivery of the first shock. The chances of successful defibrillation decline at a rate of 7 - 10% with each
minute and whilst basic life support will help to sustain a shockable rhythm it is not a definitive treatment alone.
As a result of this knowledge, Ambulance trusts nationally have been set a Government target to respond to 75% of all Category A calls
which are deemed as life threatening incidents, within 8 minutes, and in rural areas such as East Anglia it is difficult to reach
some locations within this response time. Hence the need for rapid response teams equipped with defibrillators.
Whilst on shift, the Response Team are at the disposal of Ambulance Control and may be positioned on standby at any location within the County
where the need is identified. The type of incidents attended depend entirely on the needs of the Trust, and attend calls where their response would
be significantly faster than that of another frontline asset.
When activated to a call the vehicle provides an emergency response to the incident, and this combined with the dynamic positioning of the
vehicle normally leads to a significant saving in time arriving on scene prior to an Ambulance, thus increasing the patient's chance of survival.
Although the MoD has no official link to First Response and provides no indemnities for its activities it does fully support the work
carried out by the members and individually approves the participation of each volunteer in the scheme.
The scheme has been hugely successful since it’s inception and has continued to go from strength to strength with teams being formed in
various counties throughout the United Kingdom.