Thanks to some generous funding the Working Group has obtained five new public access defibrillators for the Lydford on Fosse parish with minimal outlay by the Parish Council. A limited-duration Department of Health and Social Care match-funded grant scheme was identified that allowed us to acquire Defibrillators together with their storage cabinets for just £750 each – half the typical price of around £1500 for these 2 items.
The generosity of donors, including the Walters & Pope Trust, the Parish Hall Committee, Steve Barnes of Lydford Business Park, the Cross Keys Inn and the legacy left to the Parish by Nigel Woollcombe-Adams, has enabled us to reduce the cost to the Parish Council of acquiring and installing our 5 defibrillators and cabinets to under £1,000 – and we hope to bring this down still further.
The installation sites below have been chosen to maximise coverage of our community’s main residential areas by providing a publicly accessible defibrillator within a 400m of most houses – the maximum distance recommended by South West Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST). These are in addition to the defibrillator already in place at Lydford Sports Club.
- Lydford Parish Hall
- Fairplace
- Church Lane, East Lydford
- Lydford Business Park
- Cross Keys Inn
At the time of writing, one defibrillator has been installed at the Parish Hall, one at Lydford Business Park and one at Fairplace. The remaining defibrillators should hopefully be in place within the next few weeks.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE TRAINED TO USE A DEFIBRILLATOR
AND TO HELP SAVE A LIFE
For guidance on what to do if you witness someone suffering a Sudden Cardiac Arrest please download this information sheet:
COMMUNITY FIRST AIDER NETWORK
Following the success of the ‘Re-start a Heart’ training event in January, the Working Group is looking to establish a Community First Aider Network. The purpose of the network is to improve the outcomes of medical emergencies by having trained first aiders on hand to provide timely help whilst awaiting the arrival of the emergency services. As we all know, ambulance response times can be slow and currently our nearest Community First Responder is in Somerton.
Are you willing to help your community by offering a few hours each week when you are available to respond to any emergencies? Training will be provided over 5 days here in the Lydfords, followed by regular short, monthly top-up sessions. The network will have a first aid kit and mobile phone for use by the volunteer on duty. We need you!
For more information please e-mail: steph.taylor@othoni.myzen.co.uk