Alston to trial emergency response vehicle

An emergency response vehicle equipped with life-saving equipment is being trialled in a remote market town.

Residents in Alston, Cumbria, claimed their ambulance service was being downgraded in October 2021 when health bosses said the town's volunteer emergency medical technicians (EMTs) did not meet training requirements.

The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has now based a new vehicle in the town which only needs one EMT to operate.

It will be trialled for six months.

The NWAS had said volunteer EMTs did not have the correct qualifications to use the town's ambulance, because an Associate Ambulance Practitioner (AAP) certificate, which was not mandatory when the EMTs were first put in post, was required nationally.

The service wanted to replace them with community first responders who would help patients until an ambulance arrived from Penrith or Carlisle, but campaigners in the town said that would take too long and put lives at risk.

After the local concern it decided to trial a scheme which will see the five volunteer EMT's use the new vehicle to respond to calls and provide treatment to patients.

NWAS Cumbria director Matt Cooper said: "The response car allows us to put out a resource with just one person on it, whereas we needed two people on an ambulance, which means in essence we've been able to double our cover with the people we have got here."

Gene Quinn, NWAS head of operations for Cumbria and Lancashire, said he knew the issue was "emotive" for residents but he was "confident" the new vehicle would "meet the needs of the community".

The hybrid vehicle carries similar life-saving equipment to NWAS standard emergency response vehicles including a defibrillator, warming blankets and oxygen therapy and pain-relieving gas.

The NWAS said it would decide which model of cover was best for the rural community when the trial ends.

The service said it had worked closely with the community on the project and would continue to recruit volunteers to become local community first responder's (CFR).

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