PEOPLE who suffer heart attacks should receive more rapid treatment thanks to life-saving new ambulance equipment bought with Lottery funding.

The New Opportunities Fund, which distributes National Lottery money, has provided Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service Trust with nine rapid response ambulance equipment kits.

The state-of-the-art electro-cardiogram machines ensure more rapid treatment for heart attack victims by transmitting crucial high quality data to hospitals.

The equipment, which is installed in ambulances, is vital for assessing heart attack patients because it measures heart rhythm and detects any damage.

Paramedics can use this information to decide whether the patient needs clot-busting drugs to be administered on board the ambulance or at the hospital.

The £10,000 machines also transmit information to specialist heart teams at hospitals to alert them to the patient's condition, allowing them to prepare for their arrival.

The trust previously had the equipment in its emergency ambulances only in the Kidderminster and Redditch area.

Tamar Thompson, chief executive of the ambulance trust, said she was delighted with the new equipment.

"Since the machines have been installed in a number of emergency vehicles, 30 patients have been successfully treated and their lives have been saved," she said.

A total of 74 ECG machines have been distributed to ambulance trusts across the country.

It is the final wave in a £10m New Opportunities Fund investment in ambulance equipment.

Chairman of the New Opportunities Fund, Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, said the fund was delighted to contribute to a life-saving service.

"Any delay in treating heart attack patients means that lives can be lost each year, and it is vital that clot-busting drugs are administered within 60 minutes of someone calling for professional help," she said."This funding will ensure that all patients have access to the right treatment at the right time."