The Website of Vale First Responders - VFR is a Community First Responder group
In association with East Midlands Ambulance Service
Covering The Vale of Belvoir - North Leicestershire and South Nottinghamshire
To read our disclaimer page, please click HERE
Vale First Responders is a charity registered in England and Wales number 1115596 - to see our registration details, click HERE
Volunteer responders can be male or female, aged from 18 to 70, must have access to a car and be able
to attend emergency calls from either their home or place of work in Vale of Belvoir as soon as they are
received, in a similar way to which retained firefighters or volunteer RNLI staff or other volunteer emergency
services operate. Not a huge amount of time is required as a volunteer, as normal life can go on while a
responder is on call.
to attend emergency calls from either their home or place of work in Vale of Belvoir as soon as they are
received, in a similar way to which retained firefighters or volunteer RNLI staff or other volunteer emergency
services operate. Not a huge amount of time is required as a volunteer, as normal life can go on while a
responder is on call.
How you can help
A volunteer responder needs to be extremely reliable and trust worthy, good under pressure,
able to remain calm in emergency situations, be caring when dealing with patients and have a
decent level of physical fitness. While a responder is on call they can continue with their normal day
to day activities, but must be ready to drop everything and attend a call should one arise while they
are on duty.
Extensive initial and on-going training and assessment is provided by East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Anyone who would like further information about volunteering or would like to pledge a donation to the
scheme should contact us - click here.
able to remain calm in emergency situations, be caring when dealing with patients and have a
decent level of physical fitness. While a responder is on call they can continue with their normal day
to day activities, but must be ready to drop everything and attend a call should one arise while they
are on duty.
Extensive initial and on-
Anyone who would like further information about volunteering or would like to pledge a donation to the
scheme should contact us -
Volunteers
Funding still needed !
East Midlands Ambulance Service do not provide funding for the all of the equipment, but they do
provide the training, support and communication equipment and pagers to the volunteers.
Therefore the scheme is constantly looking for funds from local businesses, organisations and people,
to allow us to expand and replace our range of skills and equipment and to keep us operational.
All our team give up their time to train, be on call and deal with all the other administration tasks as
volunteers, and receive no payment or expenses such as fuel costs at all.
Since our launch we have received many donations and a massive amount of support, which has
been used to purchase, or arrange loan of, all of our equipment including 5 heart defibrillators, oxygen
and kit bags, training manikins and more. Thank you to everyone who has been involved with fund raising
and donations to date, and also those that have arranged loan of equipment including defibrillators.
Whilst EMAS provide us with two telephones, we have five kits and we sometimes have responders
“Paired up”, particularly where one responder is newly qualified. With EMAS relying more now on
telephoning directly the responder on duty, we have just taken the plunge and bought 15 new handsets.
With the signal in the Vale poor in places, we need the best technology we can get !
provide the training, support and communication equipment and pagers to the volunteers.
Therefore the scheme is constantly looking for funds from local businesses, organisations and people,
to allow us to expand and replace our range of skills and equipment and to keep us operational.
All our team give up their time to train, be on call and deal with all the other administration tasks as
volunteers, and receive no payment or expenses such as fuel costs at all.
Since our launch we have received many donations and a massive amount of support, which has
been used to purchase, or arrange loan of, all of our equipment including 5 heart defibrillators, oxygen
and kit bags, training manikins and more. Thank you to everyone who has been involved with fund raising
and donations to date, and also those that have arranged loan of equipment including defibrillators.
Whilst EMAS provide us with two telephones, we have five kits and we sometimes have responders
“Paired up”, particularly where one responder is newly qualified. With EMAS relying more now on
telephoning directly the responder on duty, we have just taken the plunge and bought 15 new handsets.
With the signal in the Vale poor in places, we need the best technology we can get !
Until just recently, we had two Satellite Navigation units like the one on the right.
We have purchased another three units so there is one in each kit. Particularly
in the Winter months when the nights are dark and the weather can be poor,
Sat Nav units enable us to drive straight to the incident location just by listening
to the directions as we drive. Often it’s not about locating the village, we all
know our way around the vale very well, but this equipment then saves valuable
time, because we don’t have to go to street maps of the villages to find the right road.
We have purchased another three units so there is one in each kit. Particularly
in the Winter months when the nights are dark and the weather can be poor,
Sat Nav units enable us to drive straight to the incident location just by listening
to the directions as we drive. Often it’s not about locating the village, we all
know our way around the vale very well, but this equipment then saves valuable
time, because we don’t have to go to street maps of the villages to find the right road.