Following a change to their charitable constitution, TASC, The Ambulance Staff Charity, is proud to announce that the charity is now able to offer support to the thousands of volunteers in the UK’s ambulance services.
From 05 July 2019, ambulance volunteers, such as Community First Responders (CFRs) and patient transport support, will be able to access TASC’s physical and psychological services which include counselling, PTSD support, physiotherapy and residential rehabilitation.
With regards to TASC unveiling support for ambulance volunteers, Karl Demian, TASC’s Chief Operating Officer, said:
‘‘Volunteers play a very important role in the ambulance service, and with over 10,000 CFRs alone, they form quite a significant part of the UK’s ambulance community. We’ve made many great strides to ensure we’re providing the support our ambulance community needs, and with our latest development, we’re extending our vital support to ensure we can be there to help the entire ambulance community during their time of need, whether they are currently serving ambulance staff, retired staff, family members or volunteers.’’
As part of TASC’s service change, volunteers can access physical or psychological support if they meet the following criteria:
- Live and work in the UK or UK dependencies and Gilbratar. Support is not available to people overseas
- Currently volunteering and have a minimum of three years voluntary experience with a UK ambulance service. Volunteering overseas does not count to the three year minimum
- If requesting physical rehabilitation support, the injury or physical difficulty should be caused by, or worsened by, their volunteering.