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| 'Lives at risk' over 999 changes in mid and west Wales | 'Lives at risk' over 999 changes in mid and west Wales |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| There are claims lives could be put at risk in rural areas because of changes to a first responder scheme in which fire crews help paramedics. | There are claims lives could be put at risk in rural areas because of changes to a first responder scheme in which fire crews help paramedics. |
| Teams at 13 stations in mid and west Wales are trained to help with medical emergencies where they arrive first. | Teams at 13 stations in mid and west Wales are trained to help with medical emergencies where they arrive first. |
| But South Wales West AM Peter Black said the scheme was being scaled back without "proper consultation". | But South Wales West AM Peter Black said the scheme was being scaled back without "proper consultation". |
| The Welsh Ambulance Service said fire crews were still responding to cardiac arrests. | The Welsh Ambulance Service said fire crews were still responding to cardiac arrests. |
| It said the scheme was still effective. | It said the scheme was still effective. |
| But Adrian Hughes, the national officer of the Retained Firefighters Union (RFU) in Wales, said callout rates had dropped since May, and there had been "significant changes" to the scheme. | But Adrian Hughes, the national officer of the Retained Firefighters Union (RFU) in Wales, said callout rates had dropped since May, and there had been "significant changes" to the scheme. |
| "The firefighters that operate this service have been trained by the paramedics to ensure we can deliver the right level of service at the right level of skill, with the right equipment to help save lives," he said. | "The firefighters that operate this service have been trained by the paramedics to ensure we can deliver the right level of service at the right level of skill, with the right equipment to help save lives," he said. |
| "We're only now being used for cardiac arrests. | "We're only now being used for cardiac arrests. |
| "We're not being used in a preventative way where we were before when somebody had quite bad chest pain, for example, and we delivered our usual skills and oxygen therapy and helped to stabilise the patient before the paramedics arrive. | "We're not being used in a preventative way where we were before when somebody had quite bad chest pain, for example, and we delivered our usual skills and oxygen therapy and helped to stabilise the patient before the paramedics arrive. |
| "That's no longer going to be available." | "That's no longer going to be available." |
| Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Peter Black accused the ambulance service of scaling back the first responder scheme without proper consultation. | |
| Asked on BBC Radio Wales what the impact could be in rural areas, he said there would be "greater call" on ambulance resources and the NHS. | Asked on BBC Radio Wales what the impact could be in rural areas, he said there would be "greater call" on ambulance resources and the NHS. |
| He added that lives could be put at risk, and the entire scheme could "fall by the way side and people in rural areas will suffer". | He added that lives could be put at risk, and the entire scheme could "fall by the way side and people in rural areas will suffer". |
| "My main concern is that the scheme is being scaled back," said Mr Black, a Liberal Democrat AM. | |
| "In many instances first responders perform first aid and reassure casualties, but that is not going to happen any more. | |
| "This could put lives at risk." | |
| He added that the fire service had responded to 140 different categories of medical emergency, but that had been scaled back to about four categories relating solely to cardiac arrests. | |
| "Ambulance response times in rural areas are not going to improve because of the nature of the area, and this means patients will wait longer for basic first aid," he added. | |
| Siobhan McClelland, a lecturer in health policy and economics at the University of Glamorgan, said there had been issues about ambulance response times in rural areas where it was difficult to respond to emergencies quickly. | |
| She said the fire service was used to respond in some cases where crews can react quicker to help and stabilise casualties. |