The Department of Health is equipping new Hazardous Area Response Teams (Hart) with digital Airwave radios in a £3m, 10-year deal announced today.

The response teams will work on the "inner cordon" of major hazardous incidents such as fires or building collapses.

Each ambulance trust will have a response team in place by 2011. Until then ambulance services will continue to rely on fire rescue workers to bring injured people out of a disaster area before they can be treated.

Airwave already provides a hand-portable and in-vehicle radio service to response teams established in West Midlands, East Midlands, North West and Yorkshire ambulance trusts.

James Price, Hart manager at West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "We wanted Airwave because it’s important we have crystal clear, effective and reliable communications."

Police, ambulance and fire workers in the UK are already equipped with the radios.