NEW initiatives for the North-East Ambulance Service NHS Trust have helped it maintain Government targets on answering emergency calls.

The service managed to answer 75 per cent of all life threatening calls last year within eight minutes.

Among initiatives in place are dynamic cover, where ambulance crews work from standby points around the region, so it is easier to get to emergencies, and new shift patterns, so more crews are working at busy times, such as weekends.

Residents in isolated communities have been trained as First Responders, so, if someone has a heart attack, they can give early defibrillation while an ambulance gets to the scene.

Also, a new tracking system means control staff can navigate emergency crews quicker and more accurately than before and there are more rapid response vehicles on the road.

Crews have also been established to deal with doctors' urgent calls, leaving Accident and Emergency crews to work exclusively with life threatening emergencies.

Chief executive Simon Featherstone said: "During the past two months we have exceeded this target by reaching 78 per cent of life threatening emergencies within eight minutes.

"Patients are our staff's main priority and reaching the target means that the people of the North-East have never been served so well by their ambulance crews.

"We are now reaching 50 per cent more cases within the target time than 18 months ago."