Community superheroes to be taught how to save lives

A family-friendly SuperHero event will take place in Kinross today to help local residents become well versed in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The initiative will be held in Kinross High Street, with children being encouraged to dress up as their favourite superheroes.

Volunteers from various emergency services will attend, including the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Ambulance Service, Community First Responders, Scottish Charity Air Ambulance and community police officers.

The event has been organised by Pamela Hunter, co-ordinator of Kinross Heart Start and owner of butcher shop Hunters of Kinross.

She said: “We lost a very good customer and friend, David Doig, to a cardiac arrest recently and we wanted to help make sure that Kinross residents had access 24 hours a day to an automated external defibrillator (AED).

“Our business decided to begin a project to put an AED outside our shop. It will be called the David Doig defibrillator in his honour.

“His wife, Gillian, has kindly donated £1,000 to the project and will be there on the day to place the defibrillator.”

Pamela and her team decided to offer CPR and defibrillator training after discovering that many people in Kinross said they would be afraid to use a defibrillator. With support from Linlithgow Community First Responders they set up Kinross Heart Start and began evening training sessions in the town for local shop owners and their staff. So far, 110 people have attended the free two-hour course.

The SuperHero event will run from 9.30am until 1.30pm.