Thursday 10 August 2017

A defibrillator for Natland

As you have travelled around the district you may have noticed that a number of our neighbouring villages have a defibrillator – a box usually attached to the wall of the Village Hall, which is accessible 24/7 to be deployed in the event of someone suffering a cardiac arrest. This would have lifesaving potential. It is not always possible to get an ambulance here quickly enough and a defibrillator would buy time and more importantly would potentially save a life.

So, a small working group has been set up for Natland to have a defibrillator too.

We have been in contact with Endmoor First Responders, a charity who have already attended several incidents in Natland. On one occasion when they attended the ambulance took 2 hours to arrive. They have been extremely helpful and generous in providing a defibrillator for St Mark’s School in July and also in agreeing to fund up to half the cost of an adult defibrillator in the village. They have also offered to provide training for members of the community.

It now remains for us as community to raise the other half of the funds required which is in the region of £1500 to include the cost of installation, maintenance and electricity to power it.

Our group is holding a Fundraising Coffee Day and Information session in the new Tea Room at the newly refurbished Post Office on 5th October from 10am until 4.30pm. One of the First Responders from Endmoor will also be there to talk about the Defibrillator. So do come along and support us and find out all about it and how it works. It is straightforward and the machine once opened will talk you through what to do. More importantly if it is not needed it will not work – it will only operate if the the casualty’s heart needs restarting.

As this is a valuable resource for the community we are also asking people to consider giving a donation towards the defibrillator. The sooner we raise the money, the sooner it will be in place to save a life. We already have donations of £100 each from the Church and from our Parish Council to start us off and we are very grateful for their assistance. We would welcome donations from other village organisations.

We now need to raise the rest of the money.

PLEASE COME ALONG TO THE COFFEE DAY OR MAKE A DONATION ANY TIME AT THE POST OFFICE AND SUPPORT US IN THIS PROJECT. Cheques can be made payable to the Natland Defibrillator Group.

Pam Mansfield on behalf of the Defibrillator Working Group