HAMPSHIRE firefighters attend more than 10,000 medical calls a year - more than any other fire service.

The co-responder partnership between Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) and South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) has been running for more than 13 years and accounts for 40 percent of all co-responder calls across the UK.

The pioneering concept has since been rolled out by other fire and rescue services.

There are currently 19 co-responder vehicles operating from 22 on call fire stations, and in the past three years HFRS has attended 31,806 medical calls.

All Hampshire firefighters have been trained in Immediate Emergency Care (IEC) to enable them to respond to medical incidents.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s SCAS Liaison Officer, station manager Dave Heybourne, said: “Our firefighter co-responders give up their spare time to help people in their communities; stabilising seriously ill or injured people until the ambulance service arrive.

“This is partnership-working at its very best. Our co-responders have saved many, many lives in conjunction with SCAS during the past 13 years.

“It has provided the foundations for other collaborative work aimed at making Hampshire safer. The special work our co-responders do help build even greater trust and mutual respect between our two organisations.”