AMBULANCE bosses have been given a welcome boost of new life-savers in their bid to beat heart disease.

Whitefield-based Greater Manchester Ambulance Service has welcomed the news that it is to receive 100 state-of-the-art defibrillators (defibs) as part of a £26.5 million national drive to reduce deaths from heart disease and strokes.

The defibs enable a more accurate diagnosis of a heart attack patient as well as improving the flow of information between the ambulance crew and staff at Accident and Emergency Departments.

The use of the new defibs also means that appropriately qualified GMAS staff will now be able to administer clot-busting drugs on the way to hospital, dramatically increasing patients' chances of survival.

It is vital that clot-busting drugs are administered within 60 minutes of a patient suffering a heart attack. Research has shown that if a cardiac arrest victim is given life-saving treatment within the first few minutes of an attack, their chance of survival is between 85per cent and 90 per cent, falling 10 per cent for every minute without treatment.

Mr John Burnside, Chief Executive of GMAS, said: "Manchester is second only to Glasgow in the league tables of people suffering fatal heart attacks. This new equipment will ensure quicker and more effective treatment and means we can give heart patients the very best possible chance of survival."