Parish Defibrillator Project
22 Jan 2018
Milstead Parish Council have adopted the old BT phone box, adjacent to the village hall for the grand sum of £1, with the intention of siting a Community Defibrillator there. Working in partnership with the Community Heart Beat Trust (CHT) a Lottery Grant application will be submitted and BT have agreed to continue supplying Electricity for free, providing a defibrillator is sited their. The CHT charity works with local ambulance services throughout the UK to ensure access to these local defibrillators is achieved in the fastest time possible for that environment and location.If someone has a cardiac arrest and both CPR and a defibrillator are used within three minutes, the chance of survival could be as high as 70%. The medical equipment is increasingly being installed in public attractions, and rural locations around the UK. Some of the more surprising places where the lifesaving equipment has been installed include in the cubicle of a public toilet in Northamptonshire, St Paul’s Cathedral and Tintagel Castle.
If you are with somebody having a cardiac arrest you would ring the emergency services, they will direct you to nearest defibrillator and give you the code, the defibrillator will be stored inside a locked box that takes seconds to open using the code given by emergency services, however it will prevent misuse and vandalism.
Unlike regular defibrillators, an automated external defibrillator requires minimal training to use. It automatically diagnoses the heart rhythm and determines if a shock is needed, however it is the intention to run a familiarisation seminar in the village hall.
We would also like to set up a ‘Volunteer Emergency Telephone Service’ within the local area requiring 10 volunteers . These volunteers will collect and deliver the Defibrillator to those who live alone or don’t drive.
The National Lottery are keen to see community involvement in projects they help, would anyone be interested in doing some fundraising?
Additional the Phone box next to Mlistead Village hall needs some TLC, if anyone can help clean it, we would be very grateful.
We will keep you advised of developments, anybody willing to help with the project should contact Milstead Parish Council.
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