MILITARY volunteers who give up their free time to back up Wiltshire Ambulance Service will help save lives, ambulance bosses have said.

The Wiltshire First Response scheme, where members of the armed forces answer 999 calls in fast response cars, was launched on Thursday.

So far the organisation, a national charity, has 16 clinically-trained volunteers in the county. They respond to ambulance calls during busy night shifts, particularly at weekends.

Wiltshire Ambulance NHS Trust chief executive Dennis Lauder said: "The introduction of the First Responder scheme into Wiltshire will make a significant difference to saving lives, particularly for patients suffering cardiac conditions.

"It is important to reach such patients within eight minutes and the First Responder scheme will allow us to have a number of trained volunteers spread throughout the county who will be supporting the professional ambulance service in their life-saving role."

First Response was set up by RAF pilot Scott Bateman after his family discovered how long it can take an ambulance to arrive in an emergency.

He approached Lincolnshire Ambulance Service with the idea of using RAF volunteers to answer emergency calls and treat patients until paramedics arrive.

He said: "When my father suffered a heart attack five years ago the response time of the ambulance was in excess of 15 minutes.

"Although CPR was initiated almost immediately the length of time until advanced life support was initiated was around 20 minutes, which in almost all cases is unsurvivable.

"I felt that this delay was unacceptable and had it been much shorter my father may have survived the attack."

First Response now operates alongside six ambulance trusts.

Mr Bateman said: "I am very proud of the results that this scheme has produced in the last four years and I feel that the scheme should continue to expand nationally."

Volunteers work in pairs and are sent on standby where ambulance service computers predict they may be needed.

Wiltshire co-ordinator Ralph Deegan, staff sergeant with the Royal Signals, Colerne, said teams were already working well with the ambulance service.

He said: "They appreciate we are not trying to take their jobs. They are the true professionals."