MORE paramedics will be trained for Suffolk as the ambulance service battles to bring down waiting times today.New targets brought in on Tuesday mean the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust needs to slash around 45 seconds off its response times to life-threatening emergencies.

MORE paramedics will be trained for Suffolk as the ambulance service battles to bring down waiting times today.

New targets brought in on Tuesday mean the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust needs to slash around 45 seconds off its response times to life-threatening emergencies.

An extra £3million has been invested in the service's budget to help staff reach the targets - and soon an extra response car will be on the streets of Ipswich.

There will also be 70 more paramedics trained across the trust with between 18 to 20 due to be stationed in Suffolk.

And at the Norwich-based call centre dealing with emergency calls for Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire more call takers have been recruited and the centre itself expanded.

It is hoped the extra cash and resources will save lives because by reaching patients quicker paramedics have more chance of saving someone in cardiac arrest.

It has been estimated that for every minute of delay the chance of survival reduces by 10per cent.

The ambulance service will now have to reach 75 per cent of life-threatening emergencies within eight minutes of the call taker picking up a call.

Rob Lawrence, chief operating officer in Suffolk for the East of England Ambulance Service, said: “This is the highest performance ambulance target in the world. It will be tough to reach but it will make a real difference.”

Are you pleased more resources are being invested in Suffolk's ambulance service? Does more need to be done? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.