When put into practice by increasing public awareness, training in basic life support and community based defibrillators; these events have improved the pre-hospital survival rate to between 25% and 30%.

Whenever an emergency 999 call is made, and emergency Ambulance is immediately dispatched and a first responder is also directed to the emergency.

First Responders are asked by the Ambulance Communications Centre to attend emergencies in their area. The types of emergencies attended may range from collapse due to medical problems and accidents in the home or public place.

First Responder groups consist of 10 - 15 volunteers from the local community. One member of the team is designated as the 'group coordinator'. All the volunteers live and work in the local area, and with a rotor scheme, one member of the volunteer group is available and 'on call', 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

As a community initiative, each group is given help to arrange local fund raising activities for the purchase of equipment, training and out of pocket expenses.