For any emergency dial the emergency services immediately.
(999 in the UK)Follow the advice of the ambulance crew.
In an emergency, you may provide ambulance control or paramedics with relevant medical data stored in CHAI:
- Household Coronavirus Status
- Covid-19 status of the individual
- Allergies
- Medication
- Past Medical History
- Next of Kin
CHAI has a useful Ambulance Summary PDF that collates all of this information together in one place and is kept up to date so that there’s one less thing to worry about during an emergency.
Find it in the “Forms & PDFs” section, in the Side Menu of the client’s Summary Page.
Non-emergency Concerns
If it is not an emergency consider discussing the matter with both the individual concerned and/or your volunteer coordinator; other volunteers who support the individual and their next of kin.
Contacting Support Agencies
You may want to consider contacting social services or other professional support agencies.
You would usually need to get explicit informed consent from the individual before you share their personal data. We recommend that you record this consent in CHAI and follow your group’s data protection policies.
It is acceptable to share data without consent if you think a person is in danger. We recommend you record your reasons in CHAI along with the details of the person you have contacted.
When helping a person get further assistance always be on the alert for fraudsters who target vulnerable people. If in doubt, contact your group coordinator, local council offices, police or other trusted organisations in the first instance.
Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults
If you believe that a child or vulnerable adult requires safeguarding from abuse, bad treatment, neglect or exploitation, please check if your volunteer group already has a safeguarding policy and/or seek professional advice.
If you think a crime has been committed or the vulnerable person is in immediate risk of harm, call the police.
This version of CHAI does not have a safeguarding section, therefore do not enter any abuse details in the software as it may increase the risk to an individual.
Chronic Health Problems & Disabilities
For help dealing with long term chronic health issues or disabilities there are many specialist organisations offering assistance. We have listed just a few below, although we do not endorse any.
Additional Advice
We have listed a few other helpful organisations here, although we do not endorse any.