• Gupteswar Patel, Vanessa Botan, Viet-Hai Phung, Ian Trueman, Mehrshad Parvin Hosseini, Murray D Smith, Roderick Ørner, Julie Pattinson, Zahid Asghar, Elise Rowan, Robert Spaight, Craig Mortimer, Amanda Brewster, Pauline Mountain, Joshua Miller, Martina Brown, and Aloysius Niroshan Siriwardena.
• Community and Health Research Unit, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
• Scand J Trauma Resus. 2024 Sep 30; 32 (1): 9999.

AimWe aimed to achieve consensus among NHS and community stakeholders to identify and prioritise innovations in Community First Responder (CFR) schemes.MethodsWe conducted a mixed-methods study, adopting a modified nominal group technique with participants from ambulance services, CFR schemes and community stakeholders. The 1-day consensus workshop consisted of four sessions: introduction of innovations derived from primary research; round-robin discussions to generate new ideas; discussion and ranking of innovations; feedback of ranking, re-ranking and concluding statements. Innovations were ranked on a 5-point Likert scale and descriptive statistics of median and interquartile range calculated. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically.ResultsThe innovations found were classified into two categories: process innovations and technological innovations. The process innovations included six types of innovations: roles, governance, training, policies and protocols, recruitment, and awareness. The technological innovations included three aspects: information and communication; transport; and health technology. The descriptive statistics revealed that innovations such as counselling and support for CFRs (median: 5 IQR 5,5), peer support [5 (4,5)], and enhanced communication with control room [5 (4,5)] were essential priorities. Contrastingly, innovations such as the provision of dual CFR crew [1.5 (1,3)], CFR responsibilities in patient transport to hospital [1 (1,2)], and CFR access to emergency blue light [1 (1,1.5)] were deemed non-priorities.ConclusionsThis article established consensus on innovations in the CFR schemes and their ranking for improving the provision of care delivered by CFRs in communities. The consensus-building process also informed policy- and decision-makers on the potential future change agenda for CFR schemes.© 2024. The Author(s).

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