Friday 24th May 2013 – 5.00pm – Claire Brown.
As well as cash, mortgages and insurance, a bank in Wolverhampton is now offering locals life-saving treatment.
Lloyds TSB on Station Road in Codsall is now home to a community public access defibrillator (PAD); a device used to restart someone’s heart when they’ve suffered a cardiac arrest. The defibrillator, located in a yellow box on the wall of the bank, is secure but publicly accessible in the event of an emergency.
West Midlands Ambulance Service and South Staffordshire First Responders officially handed over the defibrillator earlier today (Friday 24th May).
Cliff Connigale, Bank Manager at Lloyds TSB in Codsall, said: “It’s all about the local community. When Emma (Wilkins) told me about how vital defibrillators are it was something we were keen to help with.
“We have over 1,000 customers passing through our doors every week and when you think about the number of people using our neighbouring businesses, it makes Codsall a very busy place. We hope the defibrillator never gets used but, if it saves just one life, it’s worth its weight in gold.”
Emma Wilkins, the Trust’s Black Country Community Response Manager, said: “Thank you to Lloyds for giving a defib a home and thank you to the other businesses in Codsall for supporting the scheme. It’s an ideal place for this device because it’s in the heart of this busy and bustling little village so everyone knows where it is. It’s important that the ambulance services supports communities like this so that locals know what to do in an emergency to help one another.
“If someone suffers a cardiac arrest in the village locals should call 999 and head to Lloyds for a defibrillator. This will undoubtedly give a patient the best chance of surviving whilst an ambulance is on route.”
Andy Caddick, Chairman of South Staffordshire First Responders, said: “Minutes mean everything to a patient in cardiac arrest so the sooner CPR and a defibrillator can be used, the better. Codsall are really fortunate to have this life saving box on their doorstep which will help locals to start vital treatment on a patient before a CFR or ambulance arrives.”
To find out more about the yellow box on the wall at Lloyds TSB, come along to Parish Rooms on Church Road in the village between 9.00am and 12.30am on Saturday the 15th June. South Staffordshire First Responders and Emma Wilkins will be running an informal drop-in session to give locals the opportunity to get hands-on with the defibrillator and learn how to save a life.
Ends
Notes to Editor:
Pictured (photograph one) left to right: Steve Bennett (local butcher), Franchesca Jones (coffee shop and deli owner), Louise Davies and Andy Caddick (CFRs), Cliff Connigale (Bank Manager) and Emma Wilkins (Black Country Community Response Manager).