AVON Ambulance Service paramedics have been trained to administer life-saving drugs to heart attack victims.

Paramedics are now able to administer thrombolytic or clot-busting drugs to patients before they are taken to hospital with the aid of telemetry. Previously, these drugs could only be administered once the patient arrived at hospital.

Using a special link that has been set up between Avon Ambulance Service NHS Trust and North Bristol NHS Trust called Lifenet, paramedics carry out an electro-cardiogram test on patients and send the sent the results from the transmitting station in the ambulance to the receiving station in the emergency department. Doctors interpret the data and decided whether the patient is eligible to receive thrombolytic drugs.

Although based at Frenchay Hospital, the Lifenet station will all patients in the North Bristol NHS Trust area.

The specialist equipment was funded thanks to a £10,000 donation by The Friends of Frenchay Hospital.

Paramedic Bob Maggs attended a 999 call for a heart attack victim, where the new system was put into use.

Mr Maggs said: "My crew mate and I assessed the patient and established he was having a heart attack. Using the equipment on board the ambulance we took an ECG reading and then sent a transmission to Frenchay Hospital using the telemetry system. "A doctor at the emergency department reviewed the data on the Lifenet receiving station and confirmed that the patient was eligible to receive the thrombolytic drug so I administered it en route to the hospital."

The ambulance trust's training manager, Dave Coates, said: "The use of thrombolytic drugs will greatly improve the treatment provided to heart attack patients. We are pleased to be able to raise the skill level of our staff."

Dr Jason Kendall, consultant in emergency medicine at North Bristol NHS Trust and national advisor on the use of thrombolytic drugs, said: "Thrombolysis was previously administered in hospital, either in the emergency department, on within coronary care wards.

"The systems in place worked well but this new equipment reduces treatment times still further. It brings the treatment closer to the patient. We are sure it will make a dramatic impact on the quality of care provided to heart attack patients and will undoubtedly save many lives."