South Mid Sussex Community First Responders

Becoming a CFR

“Would you like to become a Community Responder?”

Please read on to find out more!

A Community Responder must be aged 18 years or over, be physically fit, a responsible member of the community with a mature outlook on life and have a sympathetic and caring approach to people.

As a Community Responder you will also need access to a car, have a access to email and the internet to access ongoing training and be able to give a minimum of 6 hours a week to respond as well as attend regular monthly training sessions once you have passed the initial training and assessment.

Joining the Team

These steps assume you successfully complete each before progressing to the next…

  1. Initially you’ll have an informal interview with Team / Scheme or Senior Team Leader
  2. You’ll receive an invitation to attend the next local training evening / Team Meeting
  3. You’ll complete an Application Form and hand this to your Team Leader, to be forwarded to SECAmb
  4. You’ll continue to attend monthly training during the application process
  5. You’ll have a formal interview with local Voluntary Department Coordinator once references received and approved
  6. Disclosure & Barring checks along with an Occupational Health assessment will be carried out
  7. A position will be offered on a CFR Foundation Course
  8. Upon successful completion you’ll be aligned to a local team for support and on-going training

This process should take 4-6 months, but this depends to an extent on factors outside of our control such as the speed of reply of referees and the availability for suitable dates for all parties for formal interview and Foundation Course.

If becoming a Community Responder is not for you, we are also always looking for new people to join our very active and supportive Fundraising Team. For more information on how you can help, please view the Fundraising page or use our Contact Form to get in touch.

South East Coast Ambulance Service also has many other schemes running throughout the Sussex area if you live outside the catchment area for the South Mid Sussex Community First Responder Teams. For more information please visit the SECAmb Community First Responder page.

First Responder Training

Responder Training Sessions are held at at The Methodist Church School Room, Cuckfield Road Hurstpierpoint. (Many thanks to the Church for generously providing this venue free-of-charge.)
Please contact us for more information on responder training.