Community Defibrillator for West Stockwith

West Stockwith’s first community defibrillator, outside the Village Hall, has been unveiled with a training session for local people. Pictured at the launch of the life-saving initiative in West Stockwith are representatives of the organisations that helped to fund it (from left) Peter Ray (West Stockwith Parish Council), June Ray (West Stockwith Players), Michael Bird (Village Hall Committee), Colin Gibson (Five Villages First Responders) and Martyn Johnson (Paramedic, East Midlands Ambulance Service & Five Villages First Responders), Hazel Brand (Bassetlaw District Council), and Jonathan Richardson (Village Hall Committee). A number of local residents have made donations in the recent past which have also been used towards funding of the defibrilator and the secure cabinet – thanks were given to everyone who contributed.

The defibrillator will be available 24 hours a day in the secure cabinet outside the Gertrude Morris Village Hall, on Main Street, West Stockwith. If the life saving piece of equipment is needed, the 999 ambulance operator will instruct any callers of where the device is located, the code to access the cabinet and will talk them through how to use it. The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is easy to use, safe and gives verbal prompts to the user to guide them through what to do in an emergency situation when a patient is in cardiac arrest.

Seventeen people were trained to use the defibrillator after the official launch. That’s over 100 people in the local villages trained in the last eight months.