A LIFESAVING defibrillator has been installed at an Ardsley church.
Ardsley Residents’ Association has raised the funds to install the public access defibrillator outside the church hall on Doncaster Road, which is now live on the NHS ambulance service system, allowing access by the local community should the unit be needed.
The device means 999 call handlers will be able to give emergency callers the code needed to access to the unit when it is needed.
It is housed in a secure heated box, ensuring it is kept in optimal condition and funding for the unit was secured as a result of a generous donation from the Oaks Working Men’s Club, with matched funding provided by the the local ward alliance.
The church has allowed the unit to be installed on the hall’s wall and connected to the building’s power supply.
John Markey, secretary for the residents’ association, said: “We have had a number of projects over the years and this was one that came up as the most favourable and there is quite an elderly population in Ardsley and the sports ground.
“At the end of the day we are hoping we never have to use it but the fact is it’s there just in case.”
Local communities are being urged by the NHS Ambulance Service and British Heart Foundation to install public access defibrillators and many have already been put in place but Ardsley was without.
Ardsley Residents’ Association took the decision to address this.
Simon Gillespie, chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Right now just one in ten people in the UK survive a cardiac arrest. Sadly not enough people have
the skills and confidence to perform CPR and too few defibrillators are readily available in public places.
“We’re urging organisations up and down the country to join us in creating a nation of lifesavers by making public access defibrillators readily available in their communities and by giving people the skills and confidence to save a life.
“This partnership could mean the difference between life and death for the thousands of people who suffer a cardiac arrest in England every year.”
