Tenterden Town Council has agreed to support a group of local residents wanting to install a defibrillator on the Three Fields development. The town council voted to show their support by undertaking to install, own and maintain the device – which the community would purchase themselves through community fundraising. Councillors recognised that it would be difficult for residents to ‘own’ and maintain a device themselves, as they are not part of any formal association or organisation. The town council already owns and maintains six devices in the town.
Michelle Leek, a resident of the Three Fields development said that:
“Our community at Three Fields Development, are so delighted that the Town Hall have granted our request to maintain a defibrillator on our development. Response time is crucial with a cardiac arrest, and we have been working with the Community Heartbeat Trust to get one in our area of Tenterden. If a sudden cardiac arrest happens, if CPR is performed and a Defibrillator provided within 3-5 mins, survival chances can increase from 6% to 74%.
Now we are assured of its future, we are throwing ourselves wholeheartedly into fundraising for the Defibrillator machine itself, £2500, and have got a Just Giving Page.
https://communityheartbeat.enthuse.com/cf/three-fields-defib-appeal
If you walk your dog in this area or are one of the running clubs we see passing through, or you just like to walk through or visit friends here, please consider donating, you never know when you may need it”
Further information
A defibrillator in easy reach, can provide the greatest chance of survival in the case of someone suffering a cardiac arrest. Training is not needed – anyone can use the devices; instructions are clear and simple to follow. Further details are available here.
All the town council’s devices are registered on The Circuit – the National Defibrillator Network, which allows ambulance services to access information about the locations of defibrillators, from once central point.