AMBULANCE staff are taking precautionary measures to cope with any possible Sars outbreak in the county.

Worcestershire paramedics have been advised to check patients' travel history before taking them to hospital.

If a patient displays symptoms associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, such as a high temperature or difficulty in breathing, and they have recently returned from a Sars infected country, the paramedics will immediately inform the director of public health services.

The nearest hospital will also be informed so they can make arrangements for the patient to be treated separately.

If the patient causes some concern and it is very probable they have Sars, the director of public health will visit them at their house.

He may decide the patient is best treated at home, instead of a specialist isolation unit at a hospital.

Paramedics will have to 'gown up' to treat the patient, to ensure the deadly disease is not spread.

Paramedics have always carried masks on board ambulances as a preventative measure against other contagious diseases such as meningitis.

But now they have been equipped with extra masks, in case of a Sars outbreak.

Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service Trust's director of operations, Steve McGuiness said: "These steps are in line with the national policy on severe acute respiratory syndrome.

"If staff have been in contact with a suspected Sars patient they will be phoned regularly after they have finished their shift to make sure they are feeling okay."

At the Alexandra hospital in Redditch, spokeswoman Janet-Marie Clarke said: "We are following the Government guidelines and being more cautious than usual with people who have respiratory problems. We are being particularly careful about checking people's temperatures."

There have been nearly 5,000 cases of Sars worldwide and just under 300 deaths.

Last week Toronto became the first Western city to be placed on the World Health Organisation 'infected' list.