Volunteering with us

Volunteers play a vital role across the NHS ‘donating’ millions of hours of their own time each year.

Volunteering for the London Ambulance Service is a great way to use the experience you have, as well as to learn new skills.

You will also make new friends and play a key role in helping us to support London and Londoners.

As part of our plans to deliver outstanding emergency and urgent care whenever and wherever needed for everyone in London, we are aiming to recruit volunteers to help us save lives.

Areas where we are supported by volunteers include:

• Volunteer Emergency Responders
• Volunteer Community First Responders
• GoodSam App Responders
• Charity Support

Volunteer responders

We already use volunteers effectively on the frontline to support our service. We have a well-established system of voluntary responders who are dispatched to 999 emergencies alongside our ambulance crews or from their own homes. There are three different types of volunteer responder:

Emergency Responders

Emergency Responders (ERs) are London Ambulance Service-trained volunteers who attend a range of emergency calls in Service uniform and in blue-light response cars.

These volunteers respond in charity-funded blue light vehicles and work under London Ambulance Service management and policies. They also work alongside crews in ambulances.

We currently have nearly 150 volunteers in our Emergency Responder team.

Find out more about our Emergency Responders here.

Community First Responders 

Community First Responders (CFRs) are London Ambulance Service volunteers who respond to 999 calls in their own car alongside ambulances.

They are trained to use defibrillators and respond alongside us to life-threatening emergency calls in their community. They are given equipment and support and respond in their own time.

Learn more about the Community First Responders.

Volunteer Responder Group charity

We support the work of these volunteer lifesavers in the capital through a registered charity – London Ambulance Service Voluntary Responder Group – registered charity no.1061191.

Find out more about the Voluntary Responder Group here.

Volunteers during the coronavirus outbreak

Our volunteer responders also helped us during the pandemic by doing even more shifts and responding alongside London Ambulance Service clinicians in ambulances.

Trainers from the Service gave our Emergency Responders and Community First Responders upskilling training so they can join clinicians in ambulances.

Read more about the role of volunteers during our response to the Covid-19 pandemic here.