A deepening crisis in NHS ambulance services has seen armed cops sent to respond to patients suffering from heart attacks, according to a police chief.
The shocking revelation by Andy Cooke, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, came as reports continued to emerge across the country of paramedic shortages and delays in response times.
He claimed that the measure - usually only employed as a "last resort" in the most serious of cases - is now occurring more regularly as desperately stretched ambulance services plead with police to provide emergency personnel.
