Great Western Ambulance Service is taking part in a study in which new devices will be used to treat patients who suffer cardiac arrests.

The one year study will involve 184 paramedics from across the service area.

Some will continue to use tracheal intubation (where a breathing tube is put into the patient’s windpipe) but others will use two newer devices to manage patients’ airway issues.

Tracheal intubation delay chest compressions, while the new devices are quicker to insert so cause minimal delays.

The study also involves the University of the West of England and University Hospitals, Bristol. It is hoped the results of the study will be used to pave the way for a future large scale definitive study of the three methods.

Megan Rhys, GWAS research paramedic, said: “This is a real opportunity to find out how we can get meaningful results in the field of pre-hospital research.”

Across Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Avon, about 100 patients a month receive CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and advanced life support for cardiac arrest.

As part of new national ambulance quality indicators, ambulance services record how many cardiac arrest patients have a return of spontaneous circulation and how many of those subsequently survive and are discharged from hospital.