Council agrees to replace Sandplace defib unit
MORVAL Parish Council has agreed to upgrade the public defibrillator, located within the old telephone box at Polraen, Sandplace, at a cost of £600 plus VAT (£720).
Duchy Defibrillators, which supplied and maintains the equipment on behalf of the Parish Council, said that the defibrillator had reached the age where its internal battery was about to become too low to be able to operate in an emergency situation.
The Parish Council could have gone for the ‘cheaper’ option to spend £450, including VAT, on a replacement battery, or update the whole defibrillator.
Said Duchy Defibrillators about the new defib models: “The battery (in the new models) is in the same cassette as the pads so when the pads are replaced the battery is also replaced. We replace pads as a part of the annual fee you pay so you would have the battery changed in future with no additional costs.”
The Parish Council also owns the defibrillators at the Village Hall (Reading Room), Widegates, and at the entrance to Shortacross View, Widegates, and both those are also maintained by Duchy Defibrillators under an annual contract with the council.
Defibs, as they are often known, are essential to give immediate help to someone having a cardiac arrest; a defibrillator can help re-start their heart while you’re waiting for the emergency services to arrive.
The British Heat Foundation estimates that there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year and currently less than one in ten people survive – but without immediate intervention with a defibrillator, most cardiac arrests will prove fatal.
Anyone can use a defibrillator. You do not need training (although community training sessions are often held). Once you turn it on, it will give clear step-by-step voice instructions.
Many defibrillators also have visual prompts and images showing how to use the machine.
The device checks the person’s heart rhythm and will only tell you to give them a shock if it’s needed. You cannot shock yourself or someone else accidentally.
Every minute without CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation chest compressions) and a defibrillator is said to reduce a person’s survival chances by up to ten per cent.
Incidentally, Duchy Defibrillators, has recently teamed up with Bleed Control UK and Front Line Emergency Equipment Trust (FLEET) to enhance its support for Cornish communities.
FLEET has now acquired 270 public access bleed control kits from Bleed Control UK and, in due course, these could be installed (free of charge initially but probably subject to an annual maintenance fee) in the 270 public access defibrillator cabinets that Duchy Defibrillators manages, ensuring communities are well-prepared for emergencies.
5th December 2024