First aid provided by fire crews at hundreds of incidents
The Scottish Liberal Democrats say figures show the ambulance service has asked firefighters to provide emergency first aid at hundreds of incidents.
Last updated 4th Feb 2018
Since the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) in 2013, firefighters have been sent to 1,157 of these incidents.
A total of 481 of these were through a national out of hospital cardiac arrest trial, which is currently on hold, and two historic co-responder agreements in Aberdeenshire.
The remaining 676 requests for assistance were made outwith any formal agreements.
The Lib Dems say the figures released to them under Freedom of Information underline the need for adequate emergency service resources.
The party's health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: ''Co-responding arrangements make sense because every second is critical in medical emergencies.
For example, if someone goes into cardiac arrest then the nearest available expertise should be deployed, regardless of what uniform they are wearing. It boosts the chances of survival.
However, people will be concerned that these figures are also an indication of the pressure that the ambulance service is under.
On hundreds of occasions they have asked firefighters to cover a medical emergency because they couldn't get an ambulance there immediately.''
He called on the government to ensure the ambulance service has the necessary resources.
SFRS unveiled plans earlier this week for a 20% increase in firefighter pay if they agree to take on new responsibilities, including providing emergency medical care.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: ''As Mr Cole-Hamilton has stated, time is of the essence in life-threatening incidents, which is why we dispatch responders skilled in CPR and basic life-saving skills alongside resources from the Scottish Ambulance Service.
First responders, including firefighters do save lives, and always complement, not replace, our highly skilled team of technicians, paramedics and advanced paramedics across Scotland.
The statistics being quoted need to be seen within the wider context of over 1.9 million emergency incidents attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service over this time period, which means that only 0.06% of the incidents quoted were attended by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.''