HEALTH experts have hailed a ground-breaking emergency medical response system a potential life-saver.

The system allows ambulance crews to transmit vital medical information on the way to the hospital and health bosses hope it will save lives.

Ambulances in County Durham, Wearside and Tyneside have been fitted with advanced heart machines which automatically analyse whether a patient has suffered a heart attack.

Bosses from the North-East Ambulance Service (NEAS) declared the system "live" after a demonstration at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

A similar system has been in force in the Teesside and North Yorkshire areas since May.

From 12 leads attached to the body, the ECG Telemetry System transmits technical information to specialist hospital staff.

The information is displayed on a screen and can be used to decide how the patient is treated.

If they have suffered a heart attack, specialist staff will inject the patient with a "clot-busting" drug.

Such a drug can make a difference between life or death and help restore near-normal health.

Alun Roebuck, a specialist nurse consultant at Sunderland Royal Hospital's coronary care unit, said: "With this new equipment I can tell whether the patient in the ambulance has had a heart attack.

"It means we can make sure that a bed is ready, a nurse is ready and a clot-busting drug is ready for when the patient arrives."

Apart from doing an on-the-spot diagnosis the telemetry machines also have the capability of acting as defibrillators, shocking the heart back into a normal rhythm.

George Marley, clinical development manager with the NEAS, said: "Most of our hospitals are now up and running with this system, the rest will join them in the next few weeks."

The equipment has been bought with money from the National Lottery's New Opportunities Fund.

The next major step will be to train paramedics to a level so they are able to decide whether the patient should have a clot-busting injection at the scene of the heart attack.

Crews from the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service are already using the new system with colleagues at the James Cook Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton.