Cardiac Arrest?

Automated External Defibrillator

Derek Hodge, Chairman of Hodnet Parish Council, writes:
The Hodnet defibrillator, positioned at the Fire Station, has been “live” for some weeks now with our team of trained first responders in place.

Remember that in the event of a suspected cardiac arrest that you dial 999 as usual and tell the West Midlands Ambulance Service that the person concerned may have had a heart attack. WMAS will despatch an ambulance/paramedic as usual. WMAS will also recognise that there is a Public Access AED situated in Hodnet and will contact our on-call volunteers for an immediate response. The volunteers will use the security code to access the AED (Automated External Defibrillator), take it to the patient and render assistance until the ambulance crew arrive.

Note: For every minute a patient is delayed in receiving defibrillation, their chances of survival drop by 10%!
In our local area, as well as the additional defibrillator on the Fire Appliance, there are defibrillators at the Hodnet Medical Practice (daytime opening hours) (01630 685230) and at Beech House Nursing Home in Wollerton (01630 685813) where there are AED trained staff as well. These may be an additional option if the incident is immediately adjacent to these locations but whenever you suspect someone has had a cardiac arrest, you should always dial 999 immediately and the system will respond as described above.
More details can be found here: Hodnet Community Defibrillator.