LICENSEES will be asked to support plans to buy a lifesaving defibrillator to be shared among the town centre’s pubs which could help save the lives of revellers.

Emma Palmer, licensee of Zinc on Wellington Street, chairs Pubwatch, a group of about 25 town centre pubs, and she will be asking members to support a special weekend of fundraising in the hope of having the lifesaving equipment installed and ready in time for Hallowe’en.

“Myself and the licensee of the Corner Pin both saw the same report on ITV’s This Morning about a young man who’d collapsed, but there had been a portable defibrillator nearby,” said Emma.

“There is a shortage of them in Barnsley.

“There’s one at the town hall, and one at the interchange, but they’re not going to be available to bar staff and security at 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning.”

Emma is hoping to secure enough money to buy the type of device which can be used without training, where advice from 999 call centre staff, and spoken instructions given out automatically by the device itself, allow anyone to perform the lifesaving procedure to restart someone’s heart. It’s expected to cost no more than £1,500.

“I’m getting quotes at the moment,” said Emma.

“What we can’t do is give full training to all bar staff and security staff. So I think we need the one which basically shouts at you, tells you exactly what to do and takes you through the full process.

“That way anyone can use it, although I wouldn’t say members of the public, as they are likely to have been drinking.”

At the next meeting Emma will be asking all licensees to support the appeal, which will involve a weekend of fund-raising.

“We want to do it on the last weekend in September, after eveyone’s been paid.

“Pubs can do whatever they want, but the minimum would be to have a collection bucket out, they could do other events, have a band on, whatever they want. But if everyone who’s out that weekend gave 50p, we should easily be able to cover it.

“We hope we never have to use it, touch wood, but you never know, it could save someone’s life.”

The next pubwatch meeting is on September 11.