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A new partnership between the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) and the Norfolk Accident Rescue Service (NARS) has launched to strengthen the emergency response to some of the county’s most serious medical incidents.
The scheme, which began at the start of October, has already seen more than 20 volunteers recruited and trained to support the ambulance service. In its first few weeks, the team responded to 56 emergencies, achieving an average response time of 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Based in Dereham but covering the entire county, volunteers are dispatched by ambulance control room staff to suitable incidents, providing an additional layer of rapid response capacity.
The emergency responders come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including serving police officers, firefighters, military personnel, business owners, and members of the public with relevant experience. Their work complements the efforts of NARS’s existing volunteer doctors, nurses, advanced paramedics, and first responders, who already support EEAST in delivering critical care across Norfolk.
Tom Barker, EEAST’s Head of Collaborative Response, said the scheme marks an important step in expanding community-based emergency care. “We are thrilled to be launching this new emergency responder scheme in partnership with NARS, following a successful rollout of a similar scheme elsewhere in the region,” he said. “It will allow us to respond to patients more quickly and get help to seriously injured or unwell patients.”
Carl Smith, from the NARS Senior Leadership Team, said the initiative adds “another level of care” for local communities. “Getting the emergency responder scheme live at NARS is great and offers another level of care from us as Norfolk’s Emergency Medical Charity to patients across the county,” he said. “We are really pleased with the amount of taskings the team has already had to help patients at their time of need.”
Among the volunteers is Lucy Stocker, who works full-time in EEAST’s Norwich emergency operations centre and volunteers with NARS in her spare time. “Volunteering in this capacity has been incredibly rewarding, and I take great pride in being able to support patients during their time of need,” she said.
The partnership aims to improve emergency response times, enhance community resilience, and ensure more patients receive timely, life-saving care across Norfolk.
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