AMBULANCE services in Lancashire are to get a second cash injection for treating heart attack victims.

Lancashire Ambulance Service is to receive £381,800 to fund 12 new electro-cardiogram monitors (ECG), which help diagnose heart problems.

The money comes on top of funding from the New Opportunities Fund, which distributes Lotto cash, announced last month in which the ambulance service received 20 monitors, as part of a £110 million investment nationally to combat heart diseases.

The new cash will also pay for training for paramedics to cope with thrombolysis equipment and drugs.

David Hill, chief executive of the Lancashire Ambulance Service, said: "The additional funding will equip ambulances in all areas of the county with the very latest technology and will undoubtedly save lives.

"It is part of the strategy to reduce death from coronary heart disease by allowing clot-busting drugs to be given to patients much earlier, in many cases before the ambulance reaches hospital."

He added: "It is a huge vote of confidence in ambulance paramedics who will now receive additional training in diagnostic skills and the use of thrombolytic equipment and drugs."

Announcing the funding, Health Minister Hazel Blears said: "Training and equipping ambulance paramedics to provide thrombolysis for patients will save thousands of lives a year. By giving them ECG equipment and training in thrombolytics, paramedics can effectively diagnose heart problems and the results can be transmitted to A & E departments. If patients are able to get thrombolysis an hour sooner than if they had to wait to be taken to hospital, 3,000 lives a year will be saved."

The latest round of funding is part of a £14million investment in technology and training to deal with cardiac emergency care across the country.