DEFIB FOR WALPOLE

Fundraising efforts to get a defibrillator on the Walpole Meadows estate paid off in May when this vital piece of life-saving kit was installed at the District Council Building on Hornbeam Way. Walpole Meadows resident

Alison Bradnick crowd-funded the £1,500 sum to pay for the defibrillator, with District Councillors Alan Dean and Geoffrey Sell chipping in from their New Homes Fund.

Almost 30,000 people a year die of a sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital. Defibrillators can boost a person’s odds of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest from 5% to 50%. The defibrillator at Walpole Meadows means the village now has 8 such devices accessible to the public 24/7. There are several more dotted around Stansted that can be called upon during the opening hours of the premises at which they are located.

The British Heart Foundation keeps a directory of defibs around the country called The Circuit. This is visible to NHS emergency services. Using The Circuit they can direct not just ambulance crews, but also members of the public to the nearest device when dealing with a cardiac event. We would encourage all Defibrillator Guardians to check their device is registered to The Circuit.

It is worth stressing training is not needed to operate a defibrillator. Spoken instructions are provided by the device which are easy to use. Also do not wait for an ambulance if a defibrillator is close to hand. Dial 999 and get an access code. The sooner a Defib is used, the better the chances of survival.