Putting the heart back into the community with lifesaving defibrillators

From left, Andrew Williams, centre manager Scott Boyer and Ron Tindall with the new defibrillator at Adeyfield Community Centre

Council leader Andrew Williams and Lib Dem representative for Hemel Hempstead St Pauls Ron Tindall pledged £695 each from their locality budgets to purchase a defibrillator machine for Adeyfield Community Centre in Queen’s Square.  Mr Tindall said: “This is a well-used centre in a central location – we bought the defibrillator because prevention is far better than cure, or even death.”

Defibrillators can help make a difference in the vital first minutes when a patient goes into cardiac arrest.

The news comes as the region’s ambulance service revealed it has invested almost £1million in the lifesaving pieces of kit – with 1,000 extra machines to be rolled out across the East of England.

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust will place the defibrillators across the six counties it serves – including Herts – in locations such as sports centres, village halls, and libraries.

The first batch of new defibrillators have begun to be placed and it is hoped that all 1,000 will be in position by the end of March.

Trust chief executive Anthony Marsh said: “I’m delighted that we have started this important project to invest in the communities we serve by improving access to these lifesaving devices in key locations.

“Our ambulance crews aim to arrive at the scene of a cardiac arrest within minutes. However, every second counts and having a defibrillator on scene can make the vital difference between life or death.”