MP Jesse Norman learnt some vital lifesaving skills when he visited Hereford Ambulance Hub and he is throwing his support behind a lifesaving campaign to locate more defibrillators in the community.

Hereford and South Herefordshire MP, Jesse Norman learnt the vital skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and just how simple it is to use an automated external defibrillator (AED). It follows a generous donation from the Four Acre Trust which donated £50,000 towards buying additional AEDs for rural areas of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. To qualify, local communities need to raise half the money and the Four Acre Trust will pay the other half. Together, it should ensure an additional 100 lifesaving defibrillators placed in communities across the two counties.

Since the scheme was launched in the middle of January, 58 new defibrillators have been installed across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Many have been bought by parish councils, but others have gone to rugby clubs, a golf club, community centres, village halls, three pubs, two churches, three schools and even Hereford Livestock Market.

Mr Norman said: “As a local MP I am already very aware of the vital services that our ambulance service provides. But my training session with Herefordshire Area Manager Nick Montandon really drove home to me what an important role we can all play in saving a life.

“When someone has a cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating and it is vital that the patient gets help immediately. For every minute after the heart stops, the patient’s chance of survival drops by 10%. If someone starts CPR on them immediately and a defibrillator is quickly used, up to 90% of patients can be saved.

"Yet without CPR only about 8% of people survive a cardiac arrest. So it is obvious just how important it is that we get more defibrillators out into our rural communities, and that as many of us as possible learn how to do CPR. I am very grateful to Nick for the lesson - frankly, all MPs should have one.”

WMAS Herefordshire Area Manager, Nick Montandon, said: “Whether you have had training or not, you can make a difference if you know how to perform CPR and know where your nearest defib is. By increasing their number in the community we give many more people the best possible chance of survival; more lives can be saved.”

Communities, groups and organisations who want to take up the offer should apply to the Hereford and Worcester Community First Responder (HWCFR) Charity who will arrange for the defib to be placed in a box on a church wall, school, shop or even pub; anywhere that it can be accessed 24 hours a day.

HWCFR Charity Trustee, Sue Watkins, said: “Not only will we help the community to install the defib, we will work with West Midlands Ambulance Service to train local people in its use. However, people should remember that you do not need to have had any training to use one.”

Any community or group that would like to take up the offer should contact Sue Watkins via email at [email protected]