SPECIALIST consultants are hitting the road with paramedics in a bid to give advanced medical care to people in emergency situations as quickly as possible.

The initiative, which was launched in Warrington on Friday, sees members of the ATACC (Anaesthesia Trauma and Critical Care) team, who are trained in rescue techniques, getting on board ambulances to tackle trauma and critical care injuries at the roadside.

The scheme, which was the idea of Dr Mark Forrest, an anaesthesia consultant at Warrington Hospital, was originally launched at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 when a team covered emergencies outside the main stadium at events such as the triathlon and the marathon.

Dr Forrest said: "Working with the paramedics, we start advanced resuscitation and critical care procedures before we can get the patient to a specialised unit."

The team, which is made up of volunteers, will be providing night-time cover in Warrington, but it is hoped that in the future the service can be extended into a 24-hour operation.

Warrington South MP Helen Southworth, who attended the launch, said: "I think this is brilliant.

"I have found that our excellent doctors and nurses are always worrying about ways to improve things, and people on the ambulance and those managing them are consistently trying to find ways to improve things, so this is a really good example of people sitting down together and doing it.

"I am giving this my wholehearted support."