Calls are being prioritised

Ten months into the project, nearly 60% of patients in a life-threatening situation are being reached within eight minutes.

Twelve months ago only 46% were reached within the same time period.

Last August the service announced a �22m modernisation programme, which it hoped would save the life of one extra heart attack victim every day.

One of the main changes was to categorise calls so that patients in the most need receive an ambulance first.

The first audit of the system suggests it has made a big difference to ambulance response times, which have improved by 15% in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.

More paramedics

Scottish Ambulance Service chief executive Adrian Lucas said: "Glasgow is one of the cities that has never ever achieved its performance standards.

"This year alone... we have seen improvements so far of 15%."

All ambulances will eventually be fitted with satellite navigation systems.

Nobody to date has died of a broken leg Adrian Lucas Scottish Ambulance Service

The service said once the revamp is complete 75% of emergency patients will get an ambulance within eight minutes.

There will be 200 more paramedics, three new emergency dispatch centres - in Edinburgh, Inverness and Paisley - and 30 new non-emergency centres in hospitals.

Operators in the control room in Edinburgh are using a new computer system to divide calls into three categories.

Casualties with serious and life-threatening conditions receive top priority and should get an ambulance within eight minutes.

Those with serious but non-life-threatening conditions will be put into a second category and receive an ambulance within 14 to 19 minutes.

But callers with non-serious conditions are redirected.

Broken leg

There have been some complaints about the new system, such as the Edinburgh man who went to the media when an ambulance took 30 minutes to reach his son after he broke his leg.

However, Mr Lucas said: "Nobody to date has died of a broken leg.

"That is what we are talking about here - life and death.