PARAMEDIC Bob Keane has been given the task of putting new impetus into a lifesaving service.

The 45-year-old has been appointed community defibrillation officer to support the needs of the growing number of volunteers trained in the use of the lifesaving machines across Teesside, East and North Yorkshire.

He aims to support and meet the training needs of members of more than 550 Community Responder sche-mes in the area served by the Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The volunteers, all members of the public, are trained in advanced first aid and equipped with a defibrillator.

Part of Mr Keane's job will be to expand the scheme, the main aim being to provide rapid treatment to heart attack victims in the vital minutes before ambulances arrive.

His post has been provided through a partnership of the Department for Health, British Heart Foundation and the Big Lottery Fund.

Mr Keane said: "I feel very passionate about it. I think it is vital that as many people as possible are trained in these skills.

"As a paramedic, I have seen the miraculous, lifesaving effects of defibrillation on someone having a heart attack.

"Often it really can mean the difference between life and death. At the end of the day, it is all about providing better care for our patients."