First Aid for Heart Attacks and our new Public Access Defibrillator Sites

Following our recent installation of Public Access Defibrillator Sites at The Eight Bells and Bolney Village Chapel and today's article on BBC News about Cardiac Arrests I thought it might be useful to draw your attention to a couple of sources of information online.

There's an article on First Aid in the event of a suspected heart attack on the BBC website.

There is also a video on the use of a defibrillator.

Video from BBC Breakfast by St John Ambulance on how to use a defibrillator.

Thank you very much to The Eight Bells and Bolney Village Chapel for allowing the placement of the defibrillators on their buildings. In case you didn't get to see it, below is an article recently featured in the Parish Magazine.

Public Access Defibrillator Sites

In conjunction with the British Heart Foundation and South East Coast Ambulance Service we have now situated two Public Access Defibrillator (P A D) sites in Bolney. They can deliver lifesaving treatment to a patient in Cardiac Arrest. 

The are situated at the restaurant entrance to the Eight Bells pub and on the right side of the porch at Bolney Village Chapel in white cabinets marked "A E D". 

The Defibrillators are accessible 24hrs a day are for use by any member of the public without prior training. They are fully automated and give verbal instructions as soon as the plastic lid is lifted on the front of the AED. Just pull open the door on the white cabinet and take it to the patient. An alarm will sound to let people in the local area know the door has been opened. You should be directed to the cabinet by Ambulance Control if you are calling from a location within 250 yards of the site. To have the best chance of survival the AED should be used within 4 minutes of Cardiac Arrest. This is why having them in our community is so vital. The machine will only deliver a shock to the patient when it detects the correct heart rhythm. 

We have rolled these out in conjunction with our team of Community First Responders to provide assistance to those in life threatening situations.