First Responders are trained in emergency first aid

Avon Ambulance's Community Response Team is made up of volunteers who have been taught to use life-saving equipment such as defibrillators.

Since the scheme started more than 100 people have been given first aid training.

They patrol the streets of Bristol in marked cars and can be called out to deal with emergencies.

But Ian Whittern, co-ordinator of the team, says the service is under pressure to meet targets by putting people who are unfit for the job in life-and-death situations.

'Minimal knowledge'

He said: "It is a fact that people are going out untrained, with minimal knowledge, to incidents that they may not know how to cope with.

"They may give treatment that they perceive to be correct when their training has not covered that element."

The BBC has obtained a copy of a report about the scheme compiled by Mr Whittern, which reveals some candidates are wholly unsuitable for the team yet most manage to pass the defibrillation course.

Some people who take part are unfit, suffering from chronic asthma, arthritis and bad backs.

Mr Whittern says he supports the principle behind the scheme, but that its use of members of the public who are not up to the job makes it uninsurable.

Avon Ambulance Trust says patients lives are not being put at risk and the scheme is aimed not at replacing ambulance crews but at improving survival rates.