A service providing round-the-clock emergency medical aid could soon be launched in a North Yorkshire village.

A meeting will be held next week to recruit volunteers for the First Responder Scheme in Kirbymoorside, which will be run in partnership with Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The team of community-based volunteers will receive advanced first aid training and be equipped with a defibrillator to provide life-saving treatment before an ambulance arrives.

Steve Harrison, First Responder Scheme training manager, said the team will be only minutes away to provide life-saving treatment within the first few moments of a heart attack and other emergencies.

He said: "The scheme will not replace the Ambulance Service, it will provide support in a rural area."

The volunteers will each receive ten hours of initial training, working under a team leader and under the supervision of an ambulance paramedic.

While on duty, they are equipped with a defibrillator, oxygen and an ambulance first aid pack.

They will also have a telephone and pager linked to the ambulance control room in York.

The ambulance service has similar schemes already in operation, including those in Middleton-on-the-Wolds, near Beverley, and Flamborough, near Bridlington, and provides volunteers with all the equipment.

Peter Robinson, of Kirkbymoorside, is encouraging fellow residents to show their support for the scheme at Thursday's meeting at Kirkbymoorside Primary School, at 7pm.

For more information about the scheme or the meeting contact Mr Harrison on (07966) 635013