Boost for life-saving community project
An project to provide life-saving community defibrillators is off to a flying start in East Durham.
Rotary North East’s One Life Initiative was launched last month with an installation in Penshaw.
Now four more pieces of life-saving equipment have been sited in Peterlee.
Rotary district community service Lead, Phil Hopps, said: “This is a fantastic start to our project after liaising with the North East Ambulance Service to identify towns and villages with little or no access to public defibrillators.”
He said the team had targetted the East Durham area and team member Tom Sharples had focussed on Peterlee, where there were no facilities at all.
Phil said the team consulted with local people and ward councillors and funding was secured to install the equipment at East Durham Trust Community House, the Moorcock Inn, Peterlee Leisure Centre and Acre Rigg Social Club in the town.
The defibrillators – sited in public areas, such as village halls, high streets and sports grounds - have been shown to improve survival rates of people who suffer a heart attack by up to 70%.
The British Heart Foundation
say that – for every minute it takes for a defibrillator to reach someone suffering a heart attack – their chances of survival reduce by up to 10%.
Phil added: “Having the equipment available in the community means that they can be used in the first few vital minutes following a cardiac arrest.”
Further information about the initiative can be found on Facebook @rotaryneonelife or by emailing rotarynedefibs@outlook.com.