Princes Risborough celebrates its 5th public access defibrillator

Local fundraisers and volunteer Community First Responders will be joined by the Mayor, the Chief Executive of the South Central Ambulance Charity and The Buckinghamshire Governor of the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The event marks over £34,000 of investment in defibrillators for rural communities in this area alone in the last two years.

Rachel Coney , CEO of the charity, said: “Groups like the RCDG are an inspiration to us all. Public access defibrillators save lives, and we need more local activists like Mark and his colleagues to work in their local communities to make sure we all have access to this vital lifesaving equipment in the unfortunate event that either we or our loved ones should need it”

Every minute saved in getting a defibrillator to someone who needs it, increases their chance of survival by 10%, and the South Central Ambulance Charity wants us all to be within 8 minutes of a defib at all times. With heart failure being highlighted as one of the most likely causes of sudden death by the NHS the RGDG are pleased to be able to play our part in combating this threat.

All the defibrillators are registered with the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) so that in the event of an Emergency Call, 999 call handlers can guide callers to their nearest device and give them the code needed to unlock the cabinet – after that the device tells you what to do!

The RCDG and the charity also encourage all members of the public to download the SCAS Save a Life App which will enable them to locate their nearest defibrillator

and guide them through its use. You can find it here: http://sca-charity.org.uk/why-help/train-and-equip-communities/.