2 new public access defibrillators have been installed in Deighton Parish in Yorkshire; one at The Minster Veterinary Practice and another on The Old Chapel. The AED’s have been registered with the local ambulance service and are available to the public 24/7.

Local Councillor Alan Henshall said “On being elected to the Deighton Parish Council in August 2018 it was decided that I would take on the project of a defibrillator for the parish. An application was put forward to the Ward Councillor for funding which was granted. At the same time we realized that the small enclave of Crockey Hill on the edge of the parish would be nearly 2 miles from the defibrillator so we would try and find funding for a second one. A local business man Mr Alan Wright distributed my funding appeal to those businesses based at Crockey Hill. Due to their very generous donations we soon had the funding required.

Ms Jenny Parry who is a trained First Aider, very kindly agreed to have a defibrillator on the side of her house ( the Old Church ) at the centre of the village. The Minster Veterinary practice at Crockey Hill hosted the second one there.

This now covers our rural village with 2 options covering the parish and the busy A19 York to Selby road which is a well known traffic black spot having had numerous accidents in the past few years.”

Jamie Richards, Chief Executive Officer of Stone-based charity AEDdonate, said: “We are delighted that Deighton Parish Council now have 2 new defibrillators in their community covering the whole of the village and also a well known local traffic blackspot. Congratulations to everyone involved in their tremendous fundraising efforts to get these defibrillators for their community and also to the Tesco Bags of Help scheme.”

AEDdonate covers the whole of the UK to raise awareness, knowledge and confidence in the safe use of defibrillators and CPR as well as fitting them within local communities.

To donate to the charity from home visit aeddonate.org.uk, or to discuss fundraising for a community defibrillator in your local area call 01785 472 224.

The chance of survival after Sudden Cardiac Arrest decreases minute by minute, but if someone is shocked with a defibrillator within 3 minutes their chance of survival increases by 70 %.

Having an AED within a 1/2-mile radius from wherever you are I believe is a must. We would welcome further communities to get in touch to see if we can help.”

If anyone dials 999 to a patient who is in cardiac arrest in the area, the caller will be advised on the location of the defibrillator and provided with the code to open the secure cabinet in which it is housed. The ambulance call assessor has the ability to talk to any caller, defibrillator trained or not, through instructions on how to use the device as well as CPR techniques. The defibrillator itself also provides voice guidance throughout and pictorial guides are also present.

If you would like more information on how you or your business can donate a defibrillator to a Community Public Access Site visit www.aeddonate.org.uk

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