Community Responders started in America through the work of Dr Richard Cummins. He found that if a series of events took place in a set sequence, a heart attack victim had a greater chance of survival. These events are known as the "Chain of Survival".


Early Access

Early Resuscitation

Early Defibrillation

Early Advanced Life Support


When the chain was put into practice by increasing public awareness, training people in basic life support and placing defibrillators in the community, it improved the pre-hospital survival rate to between 25% and 30%. There is evidence to suggest that in cases of cardiac arrest, for every minute that goes by without defibrillation a patient's chances of survival decrease by 10%. Community Responders are trained to provide the first three events in this chain, leading to a significant improvement in the survival rates in cases of cardiac arrest.

Bransgore Community Responders, trained by South Central (formerly Hampshire) Ambulance Service, now provide vital support to the community in many different situations. They are able to provide both emergency medical care for a wide range of incidents as well as offering support and reassurance to patients and their families during a critical medical emergency.