I AM writing in praise of two First Responders who attended my home one recent Monday evening. My 82-year-old friend had slipped and injured herself.

We dialled 999 for an ambulance but they couldn't say how long it would take. As my friend was in considerable pain and almost incoherent at times, we called twice more . On the third occasion, about an hour after the accident, two First Responders arrived. The ambulance service had asked them to attend and they were brilliant.

They made the patient much more comfortable than my husband and I had been able to do and administered gas and air which helped with the pain.

The ambulance arrived almost two hours after the original call. After assessment they put the patient in the ambulance, where they stabilised her condition- a process which took 45 minutes. They then took her to Furness hospital. They would have had to wait for her to be taken into the hospital before going off on their next call.

Taking into account the amount of time these various actions took, I have to say that this has made me realise why long waits for ambulances happen, although this is far less than ideal.

Margaret Whelan

Windermere