Dealing with awful peril, Scotland’s first responders (8)

I believe the answer is:

repliers

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'responders' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'dealing with awful peril scotland's first' is the wordplay.
'dealing with' becomes 're' (regarding).
'awful' indicates an anagram.
'scotland's first' becomes 's' (1st letter of 'scotland').
'peril' is an anagram of 'plier'.
're'+'plier'+'s'='REPLIERS'

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.