PLANS to install lifesaving defibrillators in Westbury are gathering steam with councillors expected to give the green light to a £10,000 project this week.
The town council and area board are hoping to put three publicly available defibrillators – devices that restart someone’s heart if they are in cardiac arrest – in the town.
The councils will work with national company HeartSafe to decide where best to put the defibrillators, and Westbury first aid company, EFA Training, has offered to give free public training sessions.
The town’s community engagement manager, Liam Cripps, hopes to secure the £10,000 funds needed from the area board and town council and move forward with the project this week.
Liam said, “The plan is to install three defibrillators in the first instance, and there’s no reason this number won’t grow over time to be placed strategically over the town.
“The £10,000 will provide the defibrillators, the cabinets, training for the community and ongoing maintenance and utility costs.
“This is a really important installation for Westbury and will provide potentially lifesaving assistance to anyone in our community who finds themselves in need.”
Defibrillators can save people’s lives if they have a heart attack. If used in the first four minutes, defibrillators can give victims an 80% chance of survival – 16 times higher than CPR alone. However, the survival rate drops by 14% for every additional minute, so the quicker one can be brought to the patient, the more effective it is.
Town councillor Gordon King said, “Heart disease and sudden heart failure is one of the biggest killers nationally and I am pleased that the people of Westbury will now be given a greater chance of survival. Providing that chance of recovery and helping the emergency services to save a life that might not have been saved is more than enough motivation to convince me as a town and Wiltshire councillor, that this is a worthy project.”
Wiltshire councillor for local villages and chairman of Westbury Area Board, Jerry Wickham added, “I am in total support of this project and, having been involved in the installation of one in the village where I live, think that the introduction in Westbury is really necessary. Many other area boards and parish councils across Wiltshire have funded similar devices to the benefit of their residents, even though hopefully they do not need to be used!”
