Becoming a Responder

“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 home computer and be able to give a minimum of 4 hours a week to respond as well as attend regular monthly training sessions once you have passed the initial training and assessment.

Once you have completed and submitted an application Form a routine interview is the next step to ensure you are fully aware of what a Community Responder is and to ensure you fit the profile required by SECAmb. The next step in the process is a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check, which can take up to 3 months to process.

Once all the requisite checks have been carried out, the next step in the process is a 3 day Training Course followed by an end of course Assessment. A successful pass of this final assessment means that you will be ready to become a Community Responder and “go live” as a Team Member.

For the first 3 – 6 months, you will always be working with an experienced Responder (buddy) to ensure that everything you have learned in the Classroom is transferred into real life seamlessly.

If, after reading all of this, you would like to become a member of our Team, please contact the Team Leader – Derek Middlehurst, for an informal chat or send an email to info@hurstfirstresponders.co.uk 

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 email fundraising@hurstfirstresponders.co.uk   Or click here to view the Fundraising page.

South East Coast Ambulance Service also has many other schemes running throughout the Sussex area if you live outside the catchment area for the Hurstpierpoint and Hassocks Team. For more information please visit www.secamb.nhs.uk/jobs-in-secamb/community-first-responders or send an email to recruitment@secamb.nhs.uk