When Caite became a CFR in 2021 her main goal was to share the compassion and patience she had developed with her grandfather who suffered with Dementia.
Our CFRs are placed within a scheme within their community and as part of their induction and training they will go out on buddy shifts and its these connections where we first see friendships grow.
For Caite she was placed with Vicki – “I know from experience how nerve racking it was after qualifying and wanted to support Caite (and later Jenna) to build their confidence in responding to calls in the first few weeks”.
That support, and the ongoing support and friendship, from Vicki really helped Caite build her own confidence as she became more settled into her new volunteering role.
Jenna became a CFR in late 2022 as she had always considered becoming a paramedic and desperately wanted to make a difference in her community.
She was partnered with both Caite and Vicki to do those initial buddy shifts.
Jenna said, “Both of them have been a fantastic support in every situation and any questions any of us have, there’s always an answer between the 3 of us!”
Now the three of them can be found doing shifts together, training together or just catching up in their own spare time.
When Caite joined she had one goal – to help people, the friendships she has gained are the added extra “I am so lucky to say I have made amazing friends from my volunteering work. Not just Vicki and Jenna but I am friends with my cohort team and all the other training buddies I have met along the way.”
