kcar
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by kcar on Jan 12, 2012 21:05:12 GMT
Hi All
I am fairly new to responding, but I felt compelled to respond to the post by prontocab. My motivation for becoming a CFR is to offer help as I can till the professionals are on the scene. My father died of a cardiac arrest at home in a rural location, the paramedic took 25 mins to arrive. If a CFR had been on the scene it may have helped.
So I am not interested in flashing blue lights, or any kind of status or replacement for the paramedics, its just the slim chance that I could possibly offer some help to people in my community (the same community my father died in).
Our CFR group have regular training sessions and are lucky to have a paramedic within the group. We have a good relationship with the East of England Ambulance service who recognise the support of the CFRs in this area. We all applaud the great work Paramedics do, and none of us compare ourselves to these highly skilled professionals.
I would also like to add that on freezing cold, wet windy nights none of us drag ourselves from our beds to a call in the early hours for any kind of glory
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Post by belly on Jul 19, 2012 16:34:15 GMT
I was happy with the uniform I was given by GWAS when I first joined and tried in vain to keep it. Red polo shirt and blue trousers with a hivis vest, written upon it was First Responder. A sun visor with Community First responder on it.
When we joined Gloucester and Whiltshire we were given GREEN Polo shirts with a big red badge with 999 on the front hidden by the hivis vest and NHS on the sleeves.
As I walk in through the door I correct the person who tells everyone its ok the Paramedic is here , explain what I am and when the true Paramedics arrive if I have time, give them a leaflet I keep with me which further explains who / what we are about.
Blue lights well everyone seems to think we have them. Further information is given as to why we don't.
We don't need them. (sometimes travailing at 25 in a 40 or 50 unable to over take can be frustrating)
We should only be allocated to a given area which we can reach in the allotted time.
Be happy we are making a difference or join the pro's
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Post by NurseCFR on Nov 25, 2012 20:03:03 GMT
Hi folks.
I stumbled across this forum and read this post. I am an A&E nurse who has just started as a CFR solely to gain some experience in pre-hospital care. I have only a hi vis n use my own car. In my opinion I don't need lights or sirens however a uniform clearly marking CFR is professional and safe. If that weren't the case no one would wear a uniform. I feel that Prontocab, no matter how eloquently he tries to write his posts, is one of those people who see no value to CFR's and in all probability conveys a similar attitude in many situations. Perhaps a god complex of his own? As I mentioned I am an A&E nurse and know many great paramedics and some who let the side down. Healthcare across the spectrum is focused on safe, effective patient centred care. Not who is most important in the chain. Prontocab would do well to remember this.
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Post by sondheim2002 on Dec 29, 2012 22:37:00 GMT
I TOTALLY AGREE - There was me thinking I'd done all that training, had the 3 o clock call outs, suffered the hoax call outs in the snow just so I could impersonate a health care professional. Get real.. It may be nice to remember that sometimes, just sometimes, there are some people who do want to do some good old fashioned, no strings, no pat on the back required service for our local community. A team of 4 service our local area which is seriously under pressure to cope. I have a blue fleece and a hi-vis just because we have no street lighting round here !! I am proud of what I am doing and generally the attending paramedics are glad to see us. So we cant administer life-saving drugs but we can administer a caring pair of hands, a smile and some re-assurance in a time of great stress. (some of us can even open the defib up the right way around in the dark !!!!) Does that count for nothing? So put away your cynicism and your blue lights and remember - We are not in it for the money ! Ha x
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Post by Pablo on Dec 1, 2014 19:43:58 GMT
I'm thinking of becoming a CFR and was very disappointed by this condescending post and feel it may have just been put on the forum cause an argument Reading your replies makes me feel much better about getting involved and helping people in need which seems to be the reason the CFRs on this forum do it for.
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Post by Pablo on Dec 2, 2014 7:05:02 GMT
Prontocab is a troll or a wannabe doctor with a questionable handle.
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Post by andyhope1 on Dec 30, 2015 20:58:49 GMT
Guys, I've been looking at this forum as a guest, but have decided to join and post regarding these issues. Firstly... Why? Why do so many of you crave blue lights, sirens and a psuedo paramedic uniform? Surely, if you want these things, it would be better to apply and hopefully join one of the Ambulance trusts near to you. Or how about Joining St John? They may not do what the real paramedics do, but they do help in times of crisis, and are blue light trained (But only for times of crisis) As a State Registered Paramedic, i look upon these posts and questions with some suspiscion. Wearing a uniform could be deceiving the patient that a qualified member of the ambulance service has turned up, not a CFR. This has certainly happened in my experience, and this assumption has not been corrected by the responders concerned. One example is as follows, Bedecked in their Green jump suits, with 'Duck tape' wrapped around their trouser legs, they were happy to go along with the patient and relatives assumption that these jokers were Paramedics. When we arrived, they even tried to see if we'd go along with it. Fraid i passed on that one, and informed the relatives that we were the Paramedics. So uniforms could serve to confuse the patient. Is this the aim? A uniform can give the impression you are more qualified than you are. Blue lights are another bone of contention. Why do you want them so much? Is it the 'Starsky and Hutch Syndrome'? the problems associated with using blue lights are manyfold. Staff responders for the Ambulance service have had all sorts of problems, and these guys are qualified state registered paramedics, monitored by the HPC, and have undergone blue light training. Using them atop your car for responding can most certainly invalidate your insurance in a RTC, and the police won't be lenient in such cases. They aren't with professional blue light trained personnel. Having a badged vehicle also seems to serve to confuse. Once again, examples in the past have proved this. one particular scheme that did this certainly caused much consternation with the relatives of one particular individual as they thought the 'Paramedics' had arrived in their nice shiny response car, only to be told that they had to now wait for an Ambulance as all they could do was apply oxygen. Blue lights/batternburg vehicles can give the impression you carry more equipment, like an NHS trust Ambulance, than you actually do. Such issues will only serve to confuse the public as to your role. Such posts only make proffessional crews think you are all wannabes, Walter Mittys in the making. Now i know this doesn't apply to all of you, and no offence is meant, but you need to see it from a professional point of view. Responder schemes exist due to the Government wanting to get a defib to a cardiac patient quicker. The Ambulance service was tasked with this, but no extra money was really forth-coming to achieve it. So instead of putting a paramedic on every street corner, they went fot the next best thing. Volunteers. Yourselves. Basic Defib and oxygen training meant the NHS could try and hit the targets the Government set, and at the cheap as well (You do volunteer). I'm not against these schemes, not one iota, but the fact is that there was never talk of uniform or blue lights when these schemes started. It just makes me draw the conclusion that some CFRs are starting to get ideas above their station and training and that is worrying. Now some people are sure to say that things have changed and they need these items, but all i can say is that on a local level, uniform and bluelights would be more confusing than helpful and could cause friction between ambulance crews and responders. As i post this, no schemes in my area wear uniform or have blue lights, and the relationship between the professionals and the volunteers is excellent. We all know how we can help the patient to the best of our abilities. I am writing because we attend 999 calls and is frustrating that you get stuck behind really slow drivers and reds lights if some one is having cardiac arest and no ambulance available at the time and every minute counts
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Post by CFR on Apr 9, 2016 23:58:22 GMT
My experience is the craving of blue lights fall mainly to the part time firemen, 3 stations I can think of which are part time firemen, were all asked to become CFR - the result was not one person took up the scheme, Responder cars came into the community and suddenly all 3 sites now have healthy CFRs
The original ( and new ) CFR's continue to use their own vehicles and it is a source of frustration that the New Responder car can be seen dropping children off at schools and in the local amenity council rubbish skip venue dropping garden waste off.
For me if CFR are to make a valid contribution to support the true professionals the paramedics and technicians - offer them a t shirt or jumper with " community Responder" clearly identifiable, because we now have a situation where CFR no uniform, Fire service responders red uniform, and of course the green for the proffesionals - it just needs tidying up as it is open at the moment to confusion and abuse
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Post by CFR on Apr 10, 2016 0:08:23 GMT
My experience is the craving of blue lights fall mainly to the part time firemen, 3 stations I can think of which are part time firemen, were all asked to become CFR - the result was not one person took up the scheme, Responder cars came into the community and suddenly all 3 sites now have healthy CFRs The original ( and new ) CFR's continue to use their own vehicles and it is a source of frustration that the New Responder car ( driven by the fire responders ) can be seen dropping children off at schools and in the local amenity council rubbish skip venue dropping garden waste off. For me if CFR are to make a valid contribution to support the true professionals the paramedics and technicians - offer them a t shirt or jumper with " community Responder" clearly identifiable, because we now have a situation where CFR no uniform, Fire service responders red uniform, and of course the green for the professionals - it just needs tidying up as it is open at the moment to confusion and abuse. I am proud to serve my community, and if that precious minute or two prior to the true professionals arriving, does something to make an impact in someone's life then I will continue to do it - as for Prontcabs comments - if you are a true proffesional - then get real, your post is vitriolic and abusive, you clearly think you are truly someone very special, but all the doctors nurses, and paramedics who book off their day jobs and book back on as CFRs, they are the true face of the NHS and not you. In fact why not become a CFR for 4 hours a week, and reflect on what you have written.
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Post by Stu on Aug 19, 2016 10:57:01 GMT
This is certainly turning out to be a great thread. Gosportcfr, thats a great post and you certainly hit the nail on the head with regards to the relationships between local crews and responders. However, I don't think that you should feel discouraged. In fact, I think you should feel the opposite. Prontocab has his reasons to feel the way he does. However, reading the comments, everybody has posted very constructive comments and have provided genuine arguments from both sides of the fence without the thread turning into a slagging match. We even see a slight (slight!) change in opinion from Prontocab - "Ok, i've seen reasoned arguement for their use. Being able to wash something in higher temperatures and not ruining your own clothes is a reasonable idea." This is what we created the forum for, not to discourage people but to create a platform where Responders and even industry professionals can discuss their own views whilst at the same time, receiving the views from others across the country!
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Post by delta1 on Aug 22, 2016 12:51:34 GMT
Guys, I've been looking at this forum as a guest, but have decided to join and post regarding these issues. Firstly... Why? Why do so many of you crave blue lights, sirens and a psuedo paramedic uniform? Surely, if you want these things, it would be better to apply and hopefully join one of the Ambulance trusts near to you. Or how about Joining St John? They may not do what the real paramedics do, but they do help in times of crisis, and are blue light trained (But only for times of crisis) As a State Registered Paramedic, i look upon these posts and questions with some suspiscion. Wearing a uniform could be deceiving the patient that a qualified member of the ambulance service has turned up, not a CFR. This has certainly happened in my experience, and this assumption has not been corrected by the responders concerned. One example is as follows, Bedecked in their Green jump suits, with 'Duck tape' wrapped around their trouser legs, they were happy to go along with the patient and relatives assumption that these jokers were Paramedics. When we arrived, they even tried to see if we'd go along with it. Fraid i passed on that one, and informed the relatives that we were the Paramedics. So uniforms could serve to confuse the patient. Is this the aim? A uniform can give the impression you are more qualified than you are. Blue lights are another bone of contention. Why do you want them so much? Is it the 'Starsky and Hutch Syndrome'? the problems associated with using blue lights are manyfold. Staff responders for the Ambulance service have had all sorts of problems, and these guys are qualified state registered paramedics, monitored by the HPC, and have undergone blue light training. Using them atop your car for responding can most certainly invalidate your insurance in a RTC, and the police won't be lenient in such cases. They aren't with professional blue light trained personnel. Having a badged vehicle also seems to serve to confuse. Once again, examples in the past have proved this. one particular scheme that did this certainly caused much consternation with the relatives of one particular individual as they thought the 'Paramedics' had arrived in their nice shiny response car, only to be told that they had to now wait for an Ambulance as all they could do was apply oxygen. Blue lights/batternburg vehicles can give the impression you carry more equipment, like an NHS trust Ambulance, than you actually do. Such issues will only serve to confuse the public as to your role. Such posts only make proffessional crews think you are all wannabes, Walter Mittys in the making. Now i know this doesn't apply to all of you, and no offence is meant, but you need to see it from a professional point of view. Responder schemes exist due to the Government wanting to get a defib to a cardiac patient quicker. The Ambulance service was tasked with this, but no extra money was really forth-coming to achieve it. So instead of putting a paramedic on every street corner, they went fot the next best thing. Volunteers. Yourselves. Basic Defib and oxygen training meant the NHS could try and hit the targets the Government set, and at the cheap as well (You do volunteer). I'm not against these schemes, not one iota, but the fact is that there was never talk of uniform or blue lights when these schemes started. It just makes me draw the conclusion that some CFRs are starting to get ideas above their station and training and that is worrying. Now some people are sure to say that things have changed and they need these items, but all i can say is that on a local level, uniform and bluelights would be more confusing than helpful and could cause friction between ambulance crews and responders. As i post this, no schemes in my area wear uniform or have blue lights, and the relationship between the professionals and the volunteers is excellent. We all know how we can help the patient to the best of our abilities.
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Post by delta1 on Aug 22, 2016 12:55:16 GMT
source="/post/144/thread" timestamp="1241395354"]Guys,
I've been looking at this forum as a guest, but have decided to join and post regarding these issues.
Firstly... Why?
Why do so many of you crave blue lights, sirens and a psuedo paramedic uniform?
Surely, if you want these things, it would be better to apply and hopefully join one of the Ambulance trusts near to you.
Or how about Joining St John? They may not do what the real paramedics do, but they do help in times of crisis, and are blue light trained (But only for times of crisis)
As a State Registered Paramedic, i look upon these posts and questions with some suspiscion. Wearing a uniform could be deceiving the patient that a qualified member of the ambulance service has turned up, not a CFR. This has certainly happened in my experience, and this assumption has not been corrected by the responders concerned. One example is as follows, Bedecked in their Green jump suits, with 'Duck tape' wrapped around their trouser legs, they were happy to go along with the patient and relatives assumption that these jokers were Paramedics. When we arrived, they even tried to see if we'd go along with it.
Fraid i passed on that one, and informed the relatives that we were the Paramedics.
So uniforms could serve to confuse the patient. Is this the aim? A uniform can give the impression you are more qualified than you are.
Blue lights are another bone of contention. Why do you want them so much? Is it the 'Starsky and Hutch Syndrome'? the problems associated with using blue lights are manyfold. Staff responders for the Ambulance service have had all sorts of problems, and these guys are qualified state registered paramedics, monitored by the HPC, and have undergone blue light training. Using them atop your car for responding can most certainly invalidate your insurance in a RTC, and the police won't be lenient in such cases. They aren't with professional blue light trained personnel. Having a badged vehicle also seems to serve to confuse. Once again, examples in the past have proved this. one particular scheme that did this certainly caused much consternation with the relatives of one particular individual as they thought the 'Paramedics' had arrived in their nice shiny response car, only to be told that they had to now wait for an Ambulance as all they could do was apply oxygen. Blue lights/batternburg vehicles can give the impression you carry more equipment, like an NHS trust Ambulance, than you actually do.
Such issues will only serve to confuse the public as to your role. Such posts only make proffessional crews think you are all wannabes, Walter Mittys in the making.
Now i know this doesn't apply to all of you, and no offence is meant, but you need to see it from a professional point of view.
Responder schemes exist due to the Government wanting to get a defib to a cardiac patient quicker. The Ambulance service was tasked with this, but no extra money was really forth-coming to achieve it. So instead of putting a paramedic on every street corner, they went fot the next best thing. Volunteers. Yourselves. Basic Defib and oxygen training meant the NHS could try and hit the targets the Government set, and at the cheap as well (You do volunteer). I'm not against these schemes, not one iota, but the fact is that there was never talk of uniform or blue lights when these schemes started. It just makes me draw the conclusion that some CFRs are starting to get ideas above their station and training and that is worrying. Now some people are sure to say that things have changed and they need these items, but all i can say is that on a local level, uniform and bluelights would be more confusing than helpful and could cause friction between ambulance crews and responders. As i post this, no schemes in my area wear uniform or have blue lights, and the relationship between the professionals and the volunteers is excellent. We all know how we can help the patient to the best of our abilities.
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Post by delta1 on Aug 22, 2016 13:18:14 GMT
Hello to everyone. I have read alot of the posts on here and it just seems it's all about politics. The question I have to ask is why do we need CFR anyway! It looks if most folk on here don't want them! I also want to say why carn't a CFR on a emergency call... have a Green Strobe light. I know this is not a right of way but it would definitely help to warn other road users. If you lived where I do in a city you would never make it in time. And as we aprouch Christmas it's just crazy around here.I think the government need to explain on TV what a CFR is and how the general public can help by moving over if it's possible to do so. And as for CFR unform's let's have a national dress code.
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Post by Rural CFR on May 13, 2017 18:27:37 GMT
Slightly annoyed by this post as a CFR I have no wish to be racing around on blue lights or to look like a paramedic. However being a CFR in a rural area responding in my own car around rural country lanes I get upset when stuck behind tractors and other slow traffic I cannnot pass. I feel I am letting patient down and lives are at risk and there is nothing I can do. The ability to let a driver know I need them no move would be amazing and save lives. I have also experienced people not opening door at night as they are not expecting a normal car to turn up. This has caused significant delay on several occasions. In majority of cases we beat ambulance by 20 mins but never achieve the 8 mins due to getting around traffic in rural areas amd country lanes. Turning to uniforms I feel a blue uniform would be good. It makes people feel calmer if you look professional. Turning up in jeans and a t shirt does not instill confidence with patients or their family. I would never announce I am from the ambulance service. I always say I am a volunteer community first responder and an ambulance is on its way.
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volunteer responder
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Post by volunteer responder on May 20, 2017 13:21:54 GMT
Couldn't agree more with the last comment. I too am a volunteer CFR and find the issues of cars difficult. Insurers are putting up costs and for personal insurance do not like you being a CFR even if you tell them you do not drive on blue lights or at speed. They seem to think you will be parked in dangerous places and consequently ramp up costs of insuring your car. To have a marked up group car insured through the group or local ambulance service would be great. I am also concerned about the woeful approach ambulance services have to carrying oxygen in personal vehicles. This could be alleviated with a group car equipped to the correct standards. Ambulance services rely on volunteers more and more and I am often sent out of area. I am not trying to take away the job of a paramedic or indeed be one I am quite happy in my current job. I do however want to ensure people who live around me get beat possible wuockly when they need it hopefully saving their life! The reality is ambulances are responding Slower with or without cfrs being on duty.
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