In partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service, Trossachs Search and Rescue Team has been a Co-Responder unit since September 2008. We attend emergency calls prior to the arrival of an emergency ambulance in order to provide lifesaving treatment, stabilise patients and promote recovery.
Our First Responders receive training from the Scottish Ambulance Service that qualifies them to respond to a variety of life threatening conditions and on duty personnel are dispatched by the Ambulance Control Centres (ACC) after an emergency ambulance has first been directed to attend.
The team’s vehicles are equipped with ambulance service Airwave terminals that depicts its position on the control room’s screens, mobile phone, satelite navigation system, defibrillator, oxygen therapy unit and other emergency equipment.
Additionally, we provide practical 4×4 vehicle support in times of severe weather where conventional ambulances are unable to reach patients.
We also provide NHS Forth Valley and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde with specialist 4×4 transport for medical teams in periods of severe weather such as snow and flooding, enabling them to attend priority and emergency incidents such as home births or specialised care of individuals with complex care issues.
Additionally, most of those responders have taken the ambulance driving course to enable them to drive ambulance vehicles if the need arises at an emergency situation.
In November 2018 the team was delighted to be presented with the Scottish Ambulance Service Volunteer Award.