THERE should be ten rapid response vehicles (RRVs) driven by paramedics for ambulance calls across Monmouthshire instead of the one the county now has, according to a study commissioned by the Assembly executive.

The study also recommends there should be another frontline ambulance operating from Chepstow during the day - the town has one.

The RRV paramedic can provide first aid at the scene of an accident, but cannot take patients to hospital.

A report to the Lower Wye area committee of Monmouthshire county council, which looks at the Assembly recommendations, says that so far the county has just one Nissan Terrano RRV which is operated 12 hours a day from 7.30am to 7.30pm, and no extra ambulance in Chepstow.

Chepstow's ambulance station is moving from Vauxhall Lane to Park Wall, and when that new station is open, the RRV will be on stand-by in Cobler's Plain between Devauden and Llanishen.

Response targets for ambulance calls to life-threatening emergencies are that 60 per cent should be answered in eight minutes, and 75 per cent within ten minutes.

But in Monmouthshire, the council report says, 40 per cent of such calls are answered in eight minutes - but council officers recognise that the size of the county means that target is difficult to achieve.

And the report, produced by Tim Macdermott, the council's Lower Wye area general manager, after meeting local ambulance officer Robert Morgan, also says there are no first responders in Chepstow or Caldicot.

They are trained by the ambulance service and have resuscitation equipment including a defibrillator, and are called to cardiac arrests or reports of people with breathing difficulties. They cannot attend road accidents or other traumas.

Chepstow councillors say they are concerned.

Chepstow mayor Armand Watts said: "It is important we have the ambulances because response times are critical to any patient."

And Ron Stewart, Severnside Area councillor said: "I don't understand why the county only has one (RRV) unit, the ambulance service need to sort this out possible."

No one was available for comment at the Welsh Ambulance Service as the Argus went to press.