Defibrillator units donated to Cheshire East Council

 

A host of Cheshire East Council’s leisure centres and swimming pools will benefit from a welcome donation from the ambulance service.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has handed 19 AED (automated external defibrillator) units to the Council, which will be on hand should any medical emergencies arise in its buildings.

Cheshire East already has defibrillators at its Westfields headquarters in Sandbach and at Tatton Park, Knutsford, and its health and safety team will take responsibility for all of them.

In addition to leisure facilities, the units will also be housed in Delamere House, Crewe; Dalton House, Middlewich and at Macclesfield Town Hall.

Councillor Peter Mason, Cabinet member with responsibility for procurement and shared services, said: “I very much welcome this donation from the ambulance service. Defibrillators are an essential tool in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac episodes.

“Our health and safety team has placed them in buildings where there is higher footfall and also where cardiac rehabilitation programmes are already running.

“We have staff members based in these buildings who are trained in the use of this equipment and will be on hand to treat any patients in the event of emergency.”

Defibrillators can save lives by providing an electric shock through the chest wall to restart the heart, in some cases of cardiac arrest.

When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, they lose consciousness almost at once. There are no other signs of life such as normal breathing. 

Community resuscitation manager at NWAS, Rob Hussey said: “None of us know who will suffer a cardiac arrest or when it will happen. What we do know is that when such a life threatening situation occurs, a speedy response is crucial.

“Defibrillation within the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest can dramatically increase the survival chances of the victim and prevent long term damage to vital organs.

“We would like to see defibrillators in as many places as possible and therefore, we are very pleased to be working with Cheshire East Council to equip their leisure centres with life-saving equipment.

“Hopefully, they’ll never need to use the defibrillators, but the public should be assured that there are people who know how to help should the most extreme emergency occur.”

To benefit from the equipment are leisure centres at Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Congleton, Knutsford, Alsager, Sandbach, Poynton, Shavington, Holmes Chapel, Middlewich and Sir William Stanier High School in Crewe. Some of these centres also have swimming pools and some are connected with high schools.

Nantwich Pool and Fitness Centre, Barony Park in Nantwich, Crewe Pool and the Oakley Centre and Cumberland Arena, Crewe, will also receive one.