RESIDENTS of rural villages ‘should be scared’ about the number of ambulances available to attend incidents in their area.
That is the claim made by a North West Ambulance Service first responder to Kelsall Parish Council.
Nigel Worthington told the council and members of the public that the voluntary first responder service was employed to reach emergencies in rural areas because ambulances had little chance of reaching calls within the eight-minute target.
Mr Worthington told the meeting that the difference between saving someone from a life- threatening emergency condition, such as a heart-attack, could be a matter of minutes.
“There is no way they (the ambulance) will get there in time, which is why first responders are set up in rural areas,” he said.
“People would be scared if they knew how little they could do.”
North West Ambulance Service spokeswoman Julie Treharne said rural residents could not expect the same level of service as those living in urban areas.
“But that is why a lot of time and money is being spent on initiatives to improve response times in those areas,” she said.
“We would love to put an ambulance station in every area of Cheshire but we are just not funded to that level. People should not be alarmed.”
To cover the western rural area, North West Ambulance Service has ambulance stations at Chester, Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Middlewich.
