New Blackborough Defibrillator
5th January 2016
New defibrillator in the telephone box outside Blackborough Village Hall.
I am really pleased to tell you that we now have a defibrillator in the telephone box outside Blackborough Village Hall which is accessible to anyone who needs it in an emergency.
A defibrillator is of little use unless you know how to give CPR to a person suffering from cardiac arrest, so that they can be kept alive in vital minutes while a defibrillator is collected. I would therefore urge you to get some training by attending one of the local HEARTSTART training sessions which are free to attend. These are advertised in the Parish Magazine and I will send details via this list as soon as I know the date of the next one. We do hope to hold some in Blackborough Village Hall. In the meantime I also have some DVD’s which I can lend out to local people for training purposes. I have 10 in total so please contact me if you would like to borrow one. The DVD is extremely good but I would recommend that you ALSO attend one of the HEARTSTART training sessions. More information about HEARTSTART can also be obtained from Hilary Sanders on 01884 266297.
This Defibrillator has been paid for with £400 given to Blackborough Village Hall by the Parish Council but has been heavily subsidised to the tune of around £1000 by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The BHF are doing great work by helping to provide defibrillators for villages, community centres and the like. If you feel that you would like to give a donation to them to further this work then please follow this link:
or you can donate by text
Text FIGHT to 70123 to donate £3 to help continue the BHF fight against heart disease
The defibrillator will be checked regularly by members of the local community. If you hear it making an audible bleep please contact me immediately as it may require battery replacement. If you see anyone tampering with it please tell them not to and if you have children please explain to them that it should not usually be touched and it could be hazardous if used inappropriately.
For your information there is also another defibrillator outside Kentisbeare Primary School.
Please let everyone you know locally about this and particularly people who may not receive this email – could you print off a copy and perhaps put it through their door? I will be putting up posters in the local area and letting people know via the parish magazines but if everyone can spread the word that would really help.
Some villagers have voiced concerns about not knowing how to use our defibrillator.
Our defibrillator is a Zoll AEDplus and there are several videos on Youtube showing you how to use this one. Once you have turned it on the device talks you through what to do. Please copy and paste this link into your browser to view one of the videos:
Don’t forget that if someone suffers a cardiac arrest you will need to start CPR straight away and continue until the defibrillator is collected so please ask to borrow a training DVD from me and get along to some HEARTSTART training as soon as you are able – dates coming soon.
Further information is available from me, Andrea Penfold.
01884 266825
07909813197
andreappenfold@gmail.com
