A Renton man wants to save people’s lives by setting up a team of Community First Responders who can respond quickly to emergency calls in the area.

Mark Casey, 45, one of the founders of the Save the Vale (of Leven Hospital) group and Facebook page, needs people to volunteer to become life savers.

Mark, who suffers from ill health, understands the problem that people face when they call for an ambulance only too well.

Just last week he was picked up by an ambulance crew from Oban when he suffered a suspected stroke, and he was taken to the Vale of Leven Hospital.

This meant that the crew, who were returning from dropping off a patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow, were delayed for over six hours from returning to Oban.

This also meant that the area’s local crews had to step in to cover other areas.

Mark said: “Our NHS has changed and people are living longer.

“Given that we don’t have full cover from the Vale of Leven Hospital we need the support of community first responders.

“These teams are not here to replace 999 crews, but they will help to get vital help while the 999 crews race to the incident.

“Because community first responders are local they can often get to emergency calls before ambulances.

“Emergency crews do an amazing job, but they often get stuck in Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock after dropping off patients.

“This is because they often then get called to cover emergencies in those areas until there’s a shift change over and they can return to the Vale of Leven Hospital.

“During these times the Vale can be without a 999 ambulance for four hours.”

Delays due to accidents and traffic on the roads also adds time to ambulance crews returning to the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Mark added: “Community responders would be able to attend fast and aid patients until the 999 crews arrive.”

Full training will be provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and organisers would also be keen to hear from any businesses who would be willing to help fund the project because they will need to buy medical equipment. Email valecommunityfirstresponders@gmail.com.