Some years ago the idea to train a team of military personnel
in Trauma Care, Intermediate Life Support (ILS) and to drive on
blue lights and sirens all to Ambulance Standard seemed like
a bit of a crazy one. Could it be possible to put a team
together of 20+ individuals from various trades, sections &
squadrons and operate alongside the daily running of the
Ambulance Service here in East Anglia, a plethora of shifts
and Emergency calls later the simple answer is YES.
Predominantly the Marham team provide cover for the West
Norfolk community, however, it is not unknown for us to move
into the City of Norwich or into Cambridgeshire.
The team strength is around 24 personnel with 11 of those
personnel trained to carry out emergency driving with blue
lights and sirens in order to make the best progression
through traffic necessary.
How Does It Work:
So how does it work? Most towns have an ambulance station,
but what happens when that ambulance goes out on an
emergency call? Usually another ambulance is tasked to cover
that area, but what happens if that ambulance is then tasked
with another emergency call?, You can see now that it is
possible to have areas in and around Norfolk with little or
no emergency medical cover. This is where First Response
helps out. We provide essential cover operating from
ambulance stations and high-risk black spots throughout
Norfolk often jumping from ambulance station to station
providing medical cover for those areas. Should a call come
in we are then tasked to attend under blue lights and sirens
and start the treatment cycle until an ambulance is able to
attend and convey the patient to hospital if required. In
some cases we are not able to provide treatment, but we do have a direct link
to ambulance control and so are able to update ambulance crews with valuable information prior to
arrival, this includes the requirement for Police and Fire services if needed.
So how are we funded:
Well 'First Response' is a registered charity and as such
receives no official funding from the MoD/RAF or the
Ambulance Service. Relying totally on support and fund
raising from sections within Marham and from the local
communities that it serves. Monies raised are used to
purchase essential kit including uniform, medical bags and
contents, and more recently a Training Defibrillator.
24 Hour Cover:
One of the questions that we are always getting asked is "Do
we provide a 24hr service", well quite frankly no we don't.
First Response was set up to operate outside of our normal
working day, and it was important not to interfere with our
primary roles within the Royal Air Force, shift patterns and
station duties.
Therefore we operate the following shifts:
Monday to Thursday 18:00 - 0:00
Friday 18:00 - 02:00
Saturday to Sunday 09:00 - 18:00/18:00 - 0:00
So the big question is 'Does It Work?'
Marham's First Response, along with its sister schemes currently running at Coltishall and Honington, have recently been praised by the East of England Ambulance Service for helping the service to meet the national response times laid down by the government. And in providing a high standard of patient care including treatment where needed. The statistics speak for themselves, since inception in June 2001 Call Sign 'R662' Marhams Response Car and team have attended a huge number of emergency calls an provided an equally impressive number of shifts, this years statistics are available elsewhere on this website.
Marham training
The Marham commitment to maintain the standard laid down by the
East of England Ambulance Service takes place in the form of
monthly training sessions.
Since its launch in 2001, Marham First Response has
maintained a structured monthly training programme. With
refresher training and updates under the ever watchful eye
of Ambulance Service Paramedics and a team of
in-house Health & Safety First Aid at Work Instructors.
From simple treatment lessons involving bandaging and basic
first aid skills through to Defibrillator training and
complex Spinal board immobilisation, all aspects of First
aid are covered. The team has also visited Swaffham Fire
Station for awareness training on cutting equipment and
casualty extraction from Road Traffic Collisions (RTC's).
Additional training has come in the form of Guest Speakers
who have given up their time to come and speak to the team
on issues such as Drug Abuse.
Thanks to the fund raising efforts from many sections at RAF
Marham, the team has been able to purchase an extensive
array of training aids including 'Resuscitation Mannequins'
and a 'Defibrillator Trainer'. A secondary 'Grab Bag' has
been generated so the team can now train in a more realistic
capacity without the worry of using the operational
equipment stowed on their Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) Call
Sign 'R662'.
Alongside the training the team has also been involved in
many 'Mass Casualty' & 'Major Disaster' scenarios. Exercise
'Blue Force Angel' saw the team working alongside the Fire
service, Police and Royal Air Force Search & Rescue teams.
And the team also responded with the ambulance service when
Marham staged it's own disaster exercise on base.
More...
With Marham First Response working along side the Ambulance Service the team has to be familiar with the Front Line vehicles that the service uses. The stowage and location of kit is important and at any time a responder may be called upon to fetch, or set up a particular piece of equipment. For this trips are planned to visit Kings Lynn Ambulance Station and spend some time with the Front Line Ambulances & crews.