The Parish Council is pleased to confirm that a Public Access Defibrillator is available in Bletchingley and is sited at the entrance of St. Catherine’s School.
The Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) site offers Bletchingley villagers access to a defibrillator even before a responder or ambulance arrives with the patient. When a patient suffers a cardiac arrest it is imperative they are defibrillated as soon as possible and having a machine based locally is one way we can do this.
The concept of a public access defibrillator is that it is accessible by anyone – regardless of whether they are ‘trained’ in its use. The AED is different from the models you may have seen on TV – there’s no paddles to hold on the patient’s chest and the unit is automated. The defibrillator gives comprehensive verbal instructions to the user as soon as it is switched on. The verbal instructions are repeated until the unit recognises that the step is complete. Eg: it will ask you to apply the pads to the patient’s bare chest. It will keep repeating this until it recognises that the pads are applied. It gives CPR instructions and tells you how many to do. It decides whether or not the patient needs defibrillating by analysing the heart rhythm and will prepare to defibrillate independently. Besides applying the pads to the chest and pressing the button to apply a shock to the patient, the user input is minimal. In essence – switch it on (done simply by opening the lid) and follow the instructions!
The IGas Energy Community Fund helped to make this project possible (www.igascommunityfund.co.uk). IGas Energy PLC is one of the UK’s leading onshore hydrocarbon producers, delivering natural gas and crude oil to the energy market. The IGas Energy’s Bletchingley oilfield off Tilburstow Hill Road, South Godstone has existed since 2008. Oil has been extracted on an appraisal basis since then and they hope to take the current operation forward into full production.A spokesman for the fund said:
“As a company that operates very largely in rural areas, we recognise the huge potential value of this project and are delighted to be able to support it. Our own local wellsite is in a fairly remote spot and there is definite comfort in knowing that life-saving equipment of this sort is close to hand.”
