Except for "true" category A calls, having someone on-scene, even if they can't transport, is of utmost importance. In the peri-arrest situation there is nothing that can be done in hospital or an ambulance that can't be done on scene by someone appropriately trained - CPR, defibrillation, airway management, ventilation, fluid resuscitation, nebuliser/o2 therapy etc. can all be initiated by an FRU, and patients in cardiac/respiratory arrest, hypovolaemia, respiratory crisis and so on are all managed just as effectively at the scene. The issue is inappropriate categorisation of calls and appropriate staffing. These seem to me, as an outsider admittedly, far from ideal, and should be looked at. But none of that is directly the fault of the 8 minute target.