A COMMUNITY First Responder is stepping down from his role after almost 10 years.

John Price, is said to have been an “integral part” of the first responders team in his home town of Bishop’s Waltham since joining in 2011.

Community First Responders are volunteers who are trained by the South Central Ambulance Service to attend emergency calls and provide a lifesaving response while an ambulance is on its way.

Following a career as a Consultant Engineer and with no prior medical knowledge, John trained to be a Community First Responder and in his time in the roll, has dedicated almost 20,000 hours, responding to more than 1,000 patients,

John is “very proud” that during his time as a Bishops Waltham Community First Responder, the group won the National Heart Safe Award (2017) and most recently was awarded the prestigious Queens Award for Voluntary Service (2020).

He says that being a responder is the “most rewarding thing” he has ever done.

A South Central Ambulance spokesperson said: “On behalf of all of the patients that John has brought life-saving skills, professional support and comfort to, we’d like to say ‘Thank You’ to John for his years of service as a Community First Responder.”

“As well as responding, John has spent hundreds of hours to improve the maps that the CFRs use so that all the house names and numbers for our area have been identified.

“He pioneered the use of flashing lights on responder vehicles, or as near as possible to the patient, which help the ambulance crews identify the right house.

“He was involved in revising the handbook for CFRs and is responsible for setting up challenging imaginary scenarios to test the skills and improve the training for local responders.”