A CRACK team of first aiders will soon be on standby in Horwich in a pioneering scheme to give heart attack victims a fighting chance of survival.

People in Horwich are being given the chance to train to use lifesaving defibrillators -- a device used to shock someone's heart into action when it has stopped beating -- before emergency paramedics arrive.

These community lifesavers will be on standby 24 hours a day and will give vital treatment in the eight minutes it takes paramedics to reach the scene. It is one of the first schemes of its kind in the country.

People interested in learning the techniques can attend a public meeting tomorrow at the Horwich Resource Centre in Beaumont Road at 7pm.

The scheme, run by the Greater Manchester Ambulance Service, has chosen Eccles and Horwich to pioneer the scheme. GMAS paramedic Andy Redgrave, helping to set up the Community First Responder Schemes, said: "We hope to train as many people as possible and have them in accessible places, so treatment can be started in those crucial first minutes after an attack.

"Many people's impression of defibrillators and resuscitation techniques will have been formed from watching TV programmes such as Casualty and ER.

"The defibrillators we train the public to use are fully automatic and are designed for ease of use. They operate with a computer generated voice prompt which talks the user through each stage of the resuscitation process, leaving little margin for error.

"Horwich is a close-knit community and this is a chance for residents to do their bit and help save lives."

Volunteers will be trained to GMAS standards in basic life support and will be continually assessed, the ambulance service says.

Each first aider will be given a pager or mobile phone and will respond to selected urgent calls to give treatment within the first few minutes. It will boost a heart attack victim's chances by more than 50 per cent.

GMAS Chief executive John Burnside said: "We are delighted and very excited about this scheme. It is part of a wider national plan to boost coronary heart care.

"Treatment in those first few minutes when somebody has a heart attack is crucial to survival."

More details are available on 0161 796 7222.