Emergency services pilot project 'should continue'published at 10:53 British Summer Time 12 September 2016
A scheme which sees Norfolk's firefighters responding to medical emergencies should be made permanent, according to the county's chief fire officer.
The Norfolk Fire and Rescue service has attended more than 70 call-outs to cardiac arrests since a pilot project began in July, in partnership with the East of England Ambulance Service.
It's understood the benefits of a quicker response are being most felt in rural parts of the county. Roy Harrold told BBC Radio Norfolk's Nick Conrad at Breakfast Show that he'd like to see the arrangement continue beyond the trial period, but there are cost implications.
Quote MessageMost of our workforce is retained on-call firefighters and every time we call them out we incur costs. If we're going to do this at every station we'd need some help from the ambulance service to cover our costs."
Roy Harrold, Chief fire officer, Norfolk