CARELINE staff have been trained to provide first-response care as part of a pilot project to boost emergency reaction times.

The Careline service, provided by Tendring Council, helps elderly and vulnerable residents live independently for longer by giving them a device to wear around their neck.

In the event of a fall they can press a button and, up until now, a paramedic would be sent round to help them.

But the service is trialling a new pilot project.

Careline staff members will be the first to attend the scene when an alarm is pushed.

They have been trained to assess the situation and either provide care in the event of a minor incident, or call paramedics in more serious cases.

The alterations, devised by Tendring Council and the East of England Ambulance Service, have been put in place to cut response times and free up ambulances to attend emergency incidents.

It will be trialled until the end of March to see how it works in practice.

Steve Colmer, lead emergency care practitioner for North Essex, said: “We have given the staff the training and the equipment they need and it will help take some of the pressure off our frontline teams.”

The system will be reassessed at the end of March based on the statistics over the next four months.