AN innovative scheme which helps to boost heart attack victims' survival rates by more than 50 per cent is looking for volunteers in Bury.

The Community First Responder Scheme, launched by Whitefield-based Greater Manchester Ambulance Service (GMAS), already operates in a number of shopping centres and communities across the county.

And the good news is that the initiative is now being extended to the Bury area, hence the need to recruit volunteers.

The scheme enables fully-trained members of the public to use automatic defibrillators, a device used to shock someone's heart when it has stopped beating, so they can begin treatment when an ambulance is en route.

Prompt treatment can mean the difference between life and death when a person suffers a heart attack. Providing treatment within the first few minutes can boost survival chances by more than half.

The scheme is designed to increase survival rates in those first crucial minutes and does not replace an ambulance response. In all cases, an ambulance will be immediately dispatched.

Volunteers are now particularly needed for Tottington, Greenmount, Walmersley, Hollins, Whitefield, Radcliffe, Fishpool, Limefield and Ainsworth areas of Bury.

The automatic defibrillators operate with a computer-generated voice prompt which talks the user through every step of the process step by step.

As part of each volunteers' course to become a Community First Responder, they will be trained to GMAS standards in basic life support and will be continually assessed to maintain the appropriate skills.

Once qualified, the volunteers will be provided with a pager or mobile phone and will respond to selected urgent calls, such as heart attacks, cardiac arrests and severe chest pains, to start the initial basic life support process.

GMAS chief executive John Burnside said: "The Community First Responder Scheme has been extremely successful since its inception in Greater Manchester. We want to build on this achievement and extend the scheme across the whole county.

"Manchester is second only to Glasgow in the number of people suffering fatal heart attacks and we are determined to do everything we can to reduced the number of deaths as a result of coronary heart disease. This scheme is a positive step in the right direction."

If anyone wishes to become a Community First Responder, or would like more information, contact scheme co-ordinator and paramedic Andy Redgrave on 796 7222.