New 'purple emergency 'category for cardiac arrests to be introduced in Wales
The changes are designed to ensure more people get the help they need from the ambulance service, while those who do not need an ambulance receive more appropriate care
The way the Welsh Ambulance Service deals with the most serious 999 calls is changing from tomorrow (Tuesday 1st July 2025).
A new purple category is being introduced for people suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and the red category will be retained for the life-threatening emergencies, those at high risk of cardiac or respiratory arrest, including illnesses and trauma.
The changes are designed to ensure more people get the help they need from the ambulance service, while those who do not need an ambulance receive more appropriate care.
The Welsh Government says they aim to help improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Wales, which are currently less than 5%.
Jeremy Miles, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, said:
“We're taking decisive action to save more lives.
“Until now, cardiac arrests have been categorised in the same way as less critical problems like breathing difficulties. This new approach ensures ambulance teams prioritise people with the most urgent needs.
“This targeted clinical response, combined with wider access to defibrillators in the community and improvements to hospital handovers, represents our commitment to improving survival rates.”
Jason Killens, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said:
“Since 1974, the ambulance service has been measured by the time it takes to reach emergency calls.
“The ambulance service of today provides much more sophisticated care, so shifting the focus to how many people survive a life-or-death emergency because of our interventions, rather than how many minutes it takes us to arrive, is an important step to reflect that.”
From tomorrow (Tuesday 1 July), ambulances will be dispatched to calls in the purple arrest category – people suffering a suspected cardiac and respiratory arrest – and red emergency category – people at high risk of cardiac and respiratory arrest, including as a result of injury and illness – as quickly as possible.
The expectation is that ambulances will respond to these calls in an average of six to eight minutes.
But the primary measure for purple calls will be the percentage of people to have a heartbeat restored after a cardiac arrest until arrival at hospital.
Action will also be taken to improve ambulance handover at hospitals to support ambulance capacity to respond to 999 calls in the community.
From July, the Welsh Ambulance Service will also host the NHS Wales Save a Life Cymru programme to promote CPR awareness and improve accessibility of defibrillators in the community.
There are more than 8,500 registered public access defibrillators in communities throughout Wales.