The South Western Ambulance Service has received six new emergency vehicles.
The vehicles, which were purchased with a £128,000 NHS Charities Together grant, will be used by volunteer Community First Responders (CFRs).
They will be used to transport patients to locations in Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire.
About 24,000 incidents were visited by CFRs in the previous year.
At Buckfast Abbey in Devon, the new defibrillator-equipped ambulances were formally introduced to the ambulance service.
In lieu of an emergency ambulance, CFRs are trained volunteers who respond to emergencies in their local communities.
They can give patients assurance and comfort while also performing life-saving procedures like defibrillation and oxygen therapy.
The volunteer program "provides incredible support to the communities they serve," according to Will Warrender, CEO of the ambulance service.
The vehicles will "make a huge difference" and help our devoted volunteers provide better patient care, according to Zoe Larter, CEO of South Western Ambulance Charity.
