A LIFE-SAVING cardiac defibrillator is now available alongside groceries and stamps at Overton Stores and Post Office in Hillside Road, Frodsham.
Store owner and postmistress Gill Worrall has taken charge of the hi-tech device, the first of three defibrillators bought by Frodsham Town Council to be installed in strategic locations and available for public use.
Mrs Worrall, a former nurse, welcomed the initiative to boost emergency first-aid provision in the community, and she said her 13-year-old daughter, Lori, had also participated in the first-aid training session led by ambulance staff.
She said: “It’s a marvellous idea. As a store we try to do a lot for the community and I feel this is a valuable extra service we are offering and people can be reassured that if someone in the local area needs help, they haven’t got to wait for a resuscitation team to come out.”
Others are expected to be operational soon, at Taylor’s opticians in Eddisbury Square and Gate’s 24-hour petrol station in Bridge Lane.
The scheme is backed by North West Ambulance who have been informed of the locations, so that anyone calling 999 for an ambulance will be told where to find the nearest defibrillator for use, if necessary, before paramedics arrive.
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) apply a controlled shock to patients in cardiac arrest.
Ideally, staff where defibrillators are housed are trained how to use them. However, the British Heart Foundation say they can be used safely and effectively by anyone in an emergency situation as the computerised devices guide rescuers with clear voice and visual prompts.
Without treatment, a cardiac arrest victim is believed to have a 2% chance of survival. This is doubled if the patient receives basic treatment such as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or heart compression – but with early defibrillation, survival rate jumps to 90%.
