Firefighters with barely any first aid training are being dispatched to thousands of medical emergencies, it has emerged.
Crews responded to 44,000 ambulance call-outs last year that would normally have been dealt with by paramedics, four times as many as in 2010, Home Office figures show.
They are increasingly being called upon due to a surge in demand caused by the ageing population and difficulties in making GP appointments.
A whistleblower who works for Kent Fire and Rescue claimed firefighters did not have the relevant qualifications or the training to treat the majority of patients.
He staff did six days of basic first aid – including how to use a defibrillator – with a three-day refresher course every three years.
“It's just so wrong. It's putting people at risk of fires. If a pump is off the road, and there's a house fire nearby, then there's no one to attend it for far too long. We only have a certain amount of kit,” he told the Daily Mail.
“We have a first aid bag and it's got tourniquets, oxygen, bandages to stop haemorrhaging and a defibrillator. But we have no drugs whatsoever. No adrenaline which is what they need.”
Figures show that firemen were sent to 44,121 ambulance calls in the 12 months to June 2017. In 2010, the number stood at just 10,329.
In Kent, records from the end of November show that fire crews were sent to between nine and 16 medical calls a day.
Lib Dem health spokesman Judith Jolly said: “Turning our firefighters into paramedics is a dangerous and slippery slope. Fire services have an important role to play responding to some medical emergencies, but shouldn't be relied upon as a matter of routine.”
Dave Green, national officer for the Fire Brigades Union, said: “Words fail me as to the way this country deals with emergency medical response.”
A spokesman for the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives said firemen were used “alongside an ambulance resource and never instead of an ambulance resource”.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service said it prioritised its response where there was a significant risk to life, and when required resources are relocated from other areas of the county to respond to and to support an increase in demand.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Collaboration across our emergency services presents a real opportunity to maximise resources, enhance local resilience and improve the service."
