HOW TO BECOME A COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDER
COULD YOU BECOME A COMMUNITY WELFARE RESPONDER OR A COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDER (CFR)?
- Do you enjoy a challenge?
- Are you good under pressure and remain calm in an emergency?
- Are you proud of the community in which you live and want to give something back?
- Do you have free time to spare?
- Are you ready to learn essential life saving skills?
- Have you got a full, clean driving license?
- Are you in reasonable good health?
- Are you over the age of eighteen?
To become a CFR, volunteers must first be trained as a Community Welfare Responder (CWR) and have been in that role for 6 months before progressing with additional training to become a CFR.
HOW DOES THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS WORK?
All WAST volunteer recruitment is now done 'on-line'. When initial CWR training courses are planned they are based and advertised on geographical areas, currently recruitment for our area takes place on average once a year.
Current WAST volunteer vacancies can be viewed by clicking on the following link (current vacancies) and selecting the 'volunteer' option. You can also register to get email alerts for vacancies in your area by selecting and completing the "My Job Account" section of the volunteer page. Any vacancies for Porthcawl and the surrounding Teams will also be notified on our FaceBook Page - 'Porthcawl Community First Responders'
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN YOUR ON-LINE APPLICATION?
You will initially be invited to attend an induction evening where you will be able to meet and talk to current CWR's and CFR's and ask any questions you may have. During this evening you will also take part in a semi-formal interview with WAST operational staff and if you are successful in this you will be invited to attend an initial training course that is run over two full days. If a CWR wants to up-skill to a CFR then they will need to complete a further three full days of training plus a series of practical assessments.
Before you start the initial training course, you will be:-
- Subject to an ID check
- Subject to an enhanced DBS
- Required to undergo WAST Occupational Health Clearance
- Required to supply two character references
Each new CWR recruit will also need to complete several modules of 'on-line' learning, which must be completed prior to the starting the initial training course.
On successful completion of the course WAST will link you with your local CFR team co-ordinator so that you can integrate with the team and start using you newly acquired skills by responding to medical emergency calls in you local community.