AMBULANCE services in East Lancashire are to begin carrying a life-saving drug, to increase the chances of survival for heart attack victims.

Every month, crews throughout the county are called to 1,400 reports of chest pains, of which 45 per cent are cardiac.

Government guidelines say that people suffering from heart attacks must be injected with a thrombolysis, a drug which effectively dissolves the blood clot causing the problem, within an hour of the ambulance service being called.

The sooner the drug is given the higher the chance of survival for the patient is and the lower the risk of subsequent health problems.

Previously, this injection was given on arrival at hospital, but from Monday, rapid response vehicles will carry the drug so it can be administered sooner.

Andy Twinburn, education and training manager for Lancashire Ambulance Service Trust, said: "Government guidelines say we must get to such calls within eight minutes, but even then there can be difficulties getting to the hospital and the drug must be administered within 50 minutes.

"As a trust, we decided if we couldn't take Mohammed to the mountain we must take the mountain to Mohammed.

"From Monday, if we cannot get the patient to hospital within 30 minutes, the drug will go to them.

"If the patient receives the drug within two hours we can reduce mortality by 50 per cent."

Lancashire Ambulance Trust is one of 17 out of the UK's 32 trusts which has opted for this arrangement.

The move also means that rapid response vehicles will now be funded 24/7, as opposed to the previous 12 hour service.

The service is also being supported by the use of updated electrocardiograms, machines which diagnose heart attacks and costing £5,000 each.

The new machines, carried by all of Lancashire Ambulance's vehicles, were funded by Lottery money and annual replacement funds last year.

In addition to diagnosing heart conditions, the equipment can transfer the patient's data to the hospital before arrival so staff are better prepared to deal with the patient on arrival.