• Stephen Timmons and Alix Vernon-Evans.
• School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK. stephen.timmons@nottingham.ac.uk
• Emerg Med J. 2013 Mar 1;30(3):e13.

BackgroundThere is a growing number of community first responder (CFR) groups in the UK who provide emergency care in their local communities.ObjectiveTo understand why people volunteer for, and continue to be active in CFR groups.DesignQualitative study, using focus groups of CFRs. Five focus groups were conducted, with a total of 35 participants.ResultsIdeas of altruism and a sense of community were found to be important to volunteers, though motives were complex and individual. Many volunteers had some sort of prior experience relevant to the CFR role, either as health professionals or first-aiders.ConclusionThough volunteers' motives had some commonalities with the limited literature, there were issues that were unique to the CFR context. The flexibility and autonomy of CFR volunteering was particularly attractive to volunteers. It remains to be seen how sustainable the CFR model is.

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