Campaign for life-saving defibrillator network

WESTBURY Area Board has started a campaign to make life-saving defibrillators available 24 hours a day across the whole of the town.

The project  will aim to involve local people in raising money and volunteering to maintain the defibrillators, as well as helping to decide where would be best to put them. The area board, which will work alongside the South West Ambulance Service, says there is a need for a defibrillator within a 5 minute walk of anywhere in the town.

Liam Cripps, Wiltshire Council’s community engagement manager for the Westbury said, “We are  very keen to work with local people and organisations to go ahead with this project.

“Some private organisations may have defibrillators which they are happy to have used during their opening hours which is fantastic. This project is to build on that and have 24/7 public access to the equipment in specific locations throughout the community.

“Of course there is a cost involved in having this fantastic equipment and we will need volunteers to come forward to check on the equipment, but the area board believes these are far outweighed by the life-saving potential.”

Defibrillators are devices that use electrical currents to restart a person’s heart if they are having a heart attack. Public defibrillators are becoming more common and there are 20 in Frome and its surrounding villages and 14 in the Melksham area. The Westbury Area Board hopes Westbury can have similar coverage.

The devices mean anyone suffering a heart attack nearby can be treated quickly and have a much higher chance of survival than if waiting for an ambulance. For every minute that passes once in cardiac arrest, a person becomes 10% more likely to die.

Liam continued, “If your group, organisation or parish already has a defibrillator please ensure that it is registered with the ambulance service. Please also let the Westbury Area Board know so as to further advertise and promote this potentially life-saving equipment.

“If you would like to volunteer your time to assist with this fantastic project or indeed if your business would be interested in sponsoring and providing much needed additional funding please make contact.”

To get involved with the project, contact Liam on  liam.cripps@wiltshire. gov.uk or 07770 975684.