REDDITCH paramedics could soon be trading places with colleagues in Sweden after they went on a fact-finding mission to the country's second largest city Uppsala last week.

Crews will be some of the first in England to be able to administer a life-saving clot-busting drug to heart attack victims, a practice which has been carried out in Sweden for some time.

Mr Knight said: "We're in talks over setting up an exchange programme between ambulance staff over in Sweden and our crews.

"Sweden designed the Mobimed system, which we use.

"It transmits information on suspected heart attack victims, such as blood pressure, back to the hospital so a clot-busting drug can immediately be administered as soon as the patient arrives with the crew."

He added: "They have developed the Mobimed system and the paramedics have also been administering the clot-busting drug themselves for some time.

"There is great communication between the hospital, the ambulance crews and the control room.

"They have been able to use the system to diagnose other things and the clot-busting drug has also been used to deal with strokes and blood clots in the brain."

"It was a very informative trip. They do have a very similar set up to us and experience the same problems as we do."