WALES is likely to be the first country in the world to install life-saving heart-start machines in all a force's police traffic cars.

By the summer it is expected there will be universal coverage of police first responder schemes in Wales.

It will mean people's chance of surviving a potentially fatal sudden cardiac arrest are significantly increased.

The revelation came yesterday as South Wales Police received 11 defibrillators from the British Heart Foundation which will be carried in the force's traffic cars.

More than 80 officers have had training to use the machines which if used in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest can bring a person back to life. Police traffic cars will not replace ambulances in the event of a cardiac arrest but will provide vital emergency life-saving care until an ambulance arrives.

Superintendent Pat Tucker, of South Wales Police, said, "A defibrillator is the only device we have that can actually restart a person's heart - CPR only buys us extra time when we wait for an ambulance to arrive.

"Seconds count when we are dealing with victims of heart attacks and the more unitswe have on the streets means we are increasing people's chance of survival."

One person suffers a heart attack every two minutes in the UK and70% of cardiac arrests occur outside of hospital but in 30% of cases the patient will die before reaching hospital.

Gary Humphries suffered a cardiac arrest and died last year while he was playing squash with a friend.

He was brought back to life by two members of staff at the Hawthorn Leisure Centre, near Pontypridd, who were trained first responders and able to use a defibrillator to restart his heart.

The 49-year-old's father died from a massive coronary when he was 46 but Mr Humphries had no otherexisting heart problems before he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

"I lost the first game and my friend served the ball for the next game.

"He said I didn't hit the ball back and when he looked at me I was as stiff as a board and then I hit the squash court floor," said Mr Humphries, a material manager from Caerphilly.

"I didn't know anything about it.

"It happened on a Wednesday night and I didn't know for five days that I had a heart attack and then a cardiac arrest.

"I could have played squash at another leisure centre and I wouldn't be here today.

"Thankfully Hawthorn had a defibrillator.

"There's a 2% chance that there will be a defibrillator on hand, so 49 people had to die of a cardiac arrest for me to live.

"If we can increase those chances to 3% or 5% then at least we will be saving extra lives."

South Wales Police first responders will be called on to give life-saving treatment only when there is no conflict with operational policing.

The Welsh Ambulance Service will contact the police to see if there is a first responder in the area if it receives a 999 call reporting a heart attack. An ambulance will also be dispatched.

Paul Wilkins, Welsh Ambulance Service first responder officer, said, "This not an ambulance service on the cheap.

"Every second counts when you are trying to save someone's life and these schemes are hugely beneficial in assisting the ambulance service to provide the best possible pre-hospital care for patients."

Vital equipment

AUTOMATED external defibrillators deliver a controlled electric shock through the chest wall to the heart, in order to restore a normal heartbeat.

During a heart attack the heart shakes and its beat loses control. The electrical current from the defibrillator resets the heart's natural rhythm.

There are currently 61 first-responder schemes in Wales operating in communities, shopping and leisure centres, at Cardiff Wales Airport and at the University of Wales College, Newport. Another three schemes in Ynysowen, Penrhi- wceiber and Abercynon are due to start soon.

In 2001 15 defibril- lators were put in custody suites in the South Wales Police force area - eight were donated by the British Heart Foundation. The first scheme was set up in 1998 and it has become a vital part of the Welsh Ambulance Service.

David Napier, director of the British Heart Foundation in Wales, said, "Having a defibrillator is vital to sustain someone's life in an emergency until they get to hospital.

"Research shows that having defibrillators close by will increase people's chance of survival from a sudden cardiac arrest when out and about by nine-fold."