New heart attack technology pioneered

Paramedics in Gloucestershire are piloting new technology to help heart-attack victims get quicker treatment.

Monitors are used to transmit the outline of a patient's heart beat from the ambulance treating a victim to the hospital.

It will speed up the time it takes to administer life saving drugs when the patient is admitted, and is expected to help people who suffer heart attacks in the countryside.

The equipment is state-of-the-art and costs around £8,000 per ambulance.

Life saver

It is also thought that paramedics will soon have permission to administer drugs on site.

Gary Strong, from Gloucestershire Ambulance Service, told the BBC: "Statistics show that after one hour, we are perhaps going to lose 20 lives out of every 1,000.

"So if we can get people to hospital - and apply the right drugs - quicker, we can save lives."

The system is being pioneered in Cirencester, Tewkesbury and Cinderford.