Fire engines will increasingly be deploying their blues and twos to reach patients before paramedics can.

A trial in which Watford’s firefighters have been scrambled to help save lives in medical emergencies is being extended by eight months.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue and the East of England Ambulance Service have been piloting a scheme in which fire crews have acted as co-responders when someone is in cardiac arrest.

Since the start of May, fire crews from Watford and Stevenage have been sent to suspected cardiac arrests when it is thought they can reach a patient faster than an ambulance.

So far, firefighters have responded to 17 cardiac arrest incidents and in at least one case their response saved a patient’s life.

A firefighter from Watford involved in the scheme said the station has had an average of two calls a week during the trial, and crews normally turn up as the same time as paramedics or just after.

Russell Ward, 48, said: “It it a privilege to be part of the scheme.

“Saving just one life makes it all worthwhile. It is always a battle with the odds when it comes to cardiac arrest, so any scheme to make sure people get help sooner is a winner.”

Firefighters have been using defibrillators and oxygen therapy equipment already on board fire engines during the scheme.

Mr Ward, who has worked as a fireman in Hertfordshire for 26 years, has been stationed at Watford station during the trial to helped deliver training.

He said the pilot had not stopped crews attending fires, road traffic collisions and other serious incidents in these areas but has added another life-saving service to those they already provide.

He added: “I know if a loved one were to be in need it wouldn’t matter to me who turned up as long as help arrived. It absolutely makes sense to use the skillset of firefighters to help.

“For firemen, it is in our DNA to want to save a person’s life. We are trained to deal with trauma. We have always had a good relationship with the ambulance service and working together can only be a good thing.”

During the pilot, when a 999 call has been made to the ambulance service about a cardiac arrest in the Watford or Stevenage areas, their control room has sent send out both paramedics and firefighters to attend, so that emergency care is given as quickly as possible.

When the fire service has turned up first, they have helped administer life-saving emergency care. They haven’t been taking patients to hospital.

The pilot in which Hertfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service, together with other fire services across the eastern region, are working with East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST), started at the beginning of May.

Now it has been extended to February 2017 to allow for a more comprehensive assessment of the scheme and to allow more data to be gathered.

Cllr Richard Thake, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “So far we are very pleased with how well the pilot is going and we are getting good feedback from our fire crews and EEAST.

"We were already working closely with the ambulance service at incidents and we even share stations in some areas so this pilot is a natural evolution of that collaboration.”

Both Stevenage and Watford have two full-time fire engines and the pilot has been set up to improve patient outcomes and identify the impact, if any on fire service emergency response.

Firefighters do not convey casualties to hospital but offer trauma care at the scene until an ambulance arrives.

Twenty fire and rescue services around the country are already successfully working with their local ambulance services and the fire and rescue services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk are taking part in this pilot with EEAST.