Jordan Eggington – Thursday 15th October – 12pm.
Shropshire paramedics Sarah and Trish Johnson know all too well the benefits of having Public Access Defibrillators (PAD) within communities, which is why they thought it so important to gain one within their own local area.
There are several public access Automated External Defibrillators (AED) in Ludlow, but none that could be accessed within an acceptable time frame in the Dinham area to the west of Ludlow, which includes their allotment site, the Cliffe Hotel and the Cliff Park site.
Along with former West Midlands Ambulance Service Clinical Team Mentor, Joy Hughes, the ladies thought it would be an ideal location to place an AED which could be accessed easily from all three sites. Joy has very kindly funded the equipment in loving memory of her father, David.
As the allotments are unpowered, they looked to their neighbouring sites to host the unit as it needed to be installed in a heated cabinet. The Cliff Park have very kindly arranged to have the unit installed in the next few weeks. In the meantime, the AED is already on site and available for ‘Restart a Heart Day’ tomorrow (Friday 16th October).
Sarah Johnson (pictured with Cliff Park Warden Keith Bell) said: “Ludlow has a strong community spirit and the collaboration between the Cliff Park, Wigley’s Field allotments, WMAS and the very kind donation in memory of David Hughes means we will be able to provide a Public Access Defibrillator in the Dinham area. We are delighted that this will be in place for ‘Restart a Heart Day’, which further highlights the importance of early CPR and defibrillation in out of hospital cardiac arrests.”
There are thousands of Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) sites across the West Midlands and in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest, if you are close to a PAD site the ambulance call handler will direct you to its location. If you are alone, collect the defibrillator first before starting CPR.
Using an AED
You can get in touch with your local ambulance service for advice about placing a defibrillator in your area by emailing CFRAdmin@wmas.nhs.uk.