Audlem's fourth defibrillator today

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is donating a fourth defibrillator to the village.

The official handover of the defibrillator – a machine that can restart the heart in some cases of cardiac arrest by electric shock through the chest wall – is today, Friday, 9th April.

Staff at Audlem Mill on the Wharf where the defibrillator is located, were given specialist life support training to boost the survival chances of visitors that become sudden victims of cardiac arrest.

The training, provided for free by NWAS, took four hours to complete and included operating a defibrillator and cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The new skills they have acquired mean that the Mill staff now have the ability to provide life-saving help to patients before paramedics arrive.

NWAS's Community Resuscitation Development Officer, Rob Sharples, who delivered the training said: "This is the fourth defibrillator we have given to Audlem. The first is held by the community first responder team, the second was given to The Cooperative store in January and the third given to AudlemCyclesport in February.

"Giving free training to local volunteers means they have the ability to provide life-saving help in the first few critical minutes after a cardiac arrest, now staff at the Mill can offer this additional and reassuring service.

"Having defibrillators within the community, and people trained how to use them, does save lives."

Survival chances fall by 10 per cent every single minute someone is in cardiac arrest. Research shows that applying a controlled shock within five minutes of collapse provides the best possible outcome for the patient.

NWAS is responsible for 200 public access defibrillator sites across the region.

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