Falls training provided to Community First Responder groups

This week is Falls Awareness Week and in 2021, NHS Charities Together awarded £508,689 to the East of England Ambulance Service Charity to enhance the role of volunteer Community First Responder (CFR) groups. This included providing falls training and equipment, such as raizer chairs, slide sheets and handling belts.

Recently, one of our amazing CFR volunteers in Ipswich, responded to a falls call of an elderly patient. Thanks to the falls training and equipment funded by the charity, they were able to (with Clinical Advice Line support) lift the patient out of a rose bush and into a relative’s car for them to be transported to A&E, providing rapid care and support.

She was in A&E before an ambulance would have been able to attend due to the unusually high demand that evening.

Lorna Hayes, Head of Community Response, said: 

“It is wonderful to see how the grant provided is supporting our Community First Responders to develop their role in their communities and enhance the care of vulnerable patients, especially those who have fallen. It has already made a vital difference to patients and will continue to do so.”

The generous grant has supported:

 

	Delivering 23 falls training courses via face-to-face learning and Microsoft Teams. With additional courses scheduled across the region to upskill more CFRs.
	Funding an additional CFR trainer, now in post, to aid delivery of falls training courses.
	Upskilling 165 CFRs with falls training and how to use the equipment.
	Funding six roving volunteer CFR cars in Colchester, Ipswich, Waveney, King’s Lynn, Luton and Cambridge. Falls related calls currently are 13% of the roving cars activity.