Andy Cronshaw, who is a volunteer at Ross-on-Wye Rugby Club, recently attended a first aid training course and was surprised to discover the number of defibrillators available around Ross town centre. There is one in the Market Place, each of the local supermarkets have one, as do Boots the Chemist and the Library.

He told the Ross Gazette that he was not aware that there were so many of them and is concerned that very few people know of their whereabouts.

He said:?“There seems little point having these great little machines, which potentially dramatically improve survival rates following cardiac arrest and which can be used by anyone, if very few people know of their existence.”

Defibrillators are used to treat people suffering from cardiac arrest. Defibrillation consists of delivering a therapeutic dose of electric current to the heart with a device called a defibrillator.

When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, their heart stops pumping blood around their body and they will die within minutes without treatment. For every minute without CPR and defibrillation, a person’s chance of survival decreases by around 10%. However, a bystander giving immediate CPR and defibrillation can double a person’s chances of survival in some cases.

There are more than 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year. However, fewer than one in ten people survive. In places where CPR and defibrillator awareness is more widely taught, survival rates are up to three times as high.

The BHF say that if UK survival rates were boosted to match those seen in parts of Norway, where up to 25% of people survive, nearly 5,000 additional lives could be saved each year.

There are several defibrillator machines located in and around Ross, and as reported recently in the Gazette, Weston under Penyard has received lottery funding and is currently installing defibrillators there too. Earlier this year, the Gazette reported that Sellack has a defibrillator and there are others located at several other villages.

Andy, who works for Lloyds Bank, added:?“We have defibrillators in most of our office sites but very few colleagues know this, so I’m currently working on improving awareness for the same reasons.

Defibrillators are easy to use so everyone should know where there nearest one is and feel confident to use it.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Department of Health (DH) have recently launched a £1 million partnership to make public access defibrillators and CPR training more widely available across England.

Organisations, including charities, social enterprises, community groups and commercial organisations, working in partnership with the NHS Ambulance Service, can apply to the BHF for free community packages.

This includes up to five public access defibrillators, the BHF’s Call Push Rescue CPR training kit and defibrillator cabinets. This will help equip local communities with the life saving skills and equipment to improve survival rates from out of hospital cardiac arrest in their areas.

Organisations can check if they are eligible, and apply for the free community package including up to five public access defibrillators and a Call Push Rescue training kit, by visiting: bhf.org.uk/defibengland

The Ross Gazette would like to know where every defibrillator in the Ross area is located so that we can share this information with residents.

If you know where your nearest defibrillator is, not including the ones already mentioned in this article, please email [email protected]