The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, has expressed concern at changes to the way that retained firefighters support the ambulance service in rural areas, which could lead to lives being put at risk.
Mr. Black has spoken out after retained firefighters in Gower accused the ambulance services of capping the number of times the fire service is able to assist in medical emergencies when a patient is too far from the nearest ambulance station for paramedics to get to him or her within a reasonable timescale.
The Retained Firefighters' Union say that each of the 14 fire stations, including Reynoldston, involved in the co-responders scheme in mid and west Wales saves between five and 10 lives a year. They say that retained firefighters provide more rapid emergency cover in rural areas, because they often live within their community.
Commenting on the changes to the service, Mr. Black said: "I know that firefighters are often called to help with heart attacks, strokes, epilepsy, diabetes and people who have collapsed - all of which can be life threatening. Because fire stations cover a wide area, they can often get to an emergency before the paramedics."
"I would be very disturbed indeed if changes to the way that the Ambulance Service operates were to increase the risk to people living in rural areas purely for the sake of saving money. Commonsense needs to be applied to this service so that the safety of those who need the emergency services is not compromised."
