Call for an ambulance and you may get a fire engine.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service has launched a new scheme where it will respond to medical emergencies alongside medics.

The trial project will see crews from Sheppey and Sittingbourne attend life-threatening incidents like heart attacks and breathing difficulties.

Ambulances will still be sent out but there will be occasions firefighters might be able to get there quicker.

If successful, the scheme will be rolled out county-wide by April.

Fire engines have been fitted with defibrillators and staff trained in how to use them.

Sittingbourne station manager Stuart Beadle said: “It’s about getting care to a patient as quickly as possible, if that can be done by a fire crew or an ambulance crew, then obviously that person has a greater degree of survival.”

Despite the added duties, Mr Beadle was quick to assure the public fires would still be the service’s priority.

“We go alongside an ambulance rather than replacing one and if we get diverted away from the medical emergency to a fire then everyone is still covered,” he said.

All involved firefighters volunteered to be part of the scheme, with South East Coast Ambulance (SECAmb) welcoming the additional help.

Paramedic Matt England said: “This is all about saving more lives. When someone is in cardiac arrest, with every minute that passes their chances of survival diminish significantly.”

Mr Beadle added: “I live in this community and if I was experiencing a cardiac arrest then I wouldn’t care who turned up as long as they had a defibrillator, were trained and worked with paramedics to save my life.”