Another rural Parish Council – East Markham – has taken the valiant step of ensuring residents in all parts of the village are safeguarded against sudden cardiac arrest. East Markham is the first location in Nottinghamshire to install a solar and wind powered defibrillator cabinet.
East Markham Parish Council recognised that there were houses in the village some distance from the three public Automated External Defibrillators (AED) already in the village.
East Markham’s wind and solar powered defibrillator cabinet – the first in Nottinghamshire
However, there was no electricity supply to connect a new publicly accessible cabinet, and it was going to be cost prohibitive to create a new electrical connection, as Chair of East Markham Parish Council, Councillor Dan Littlewood, explained:
“A lot of Parish Councils focus can be summarised as the 3 Ps. Planning, Parking and (ahem) Pooh. While most councils do spend a lot of time on these matters, they also provide necessary infrastructure in the communities they represent. East Markham Parish Council were quick to recognise that there was an area in the village that was some distance from their three defibrillators in the village.
“The problem being that the most logical place to site a new defibrillator did not have the necessary electricity supply to support it. Rather than admit defeat, the Council looked to solar and wind power to plug the gap and so the village now has a newly installed defibrillator to provide lifesaving support should the worse happen.
“In cases of cardiac arrests every second counts and being close to one can boost your survival chance.”
Every second counts when a person goes into cardiac arrest; for every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of survival decreases by seven to 10 per cent.
Mike Dowson, founder and Managing Director at Turtle Medical, commented: “While thousands of public defibrillator cabinets can be found across the country, people may be surprised just how many small rural villages don’t have even one AED. Often, it’s because there isn’t a village hall, adoptable phone box or other source of electricity to connect the cabinet to. Defibrillators must ideally always stay above 10 degrees to guarantee they are rescue ready.
“We are extremely impressed with East Markham Parish Council’s approach to community medical safety. They recognised that even with three defibrillators, there were residents at huge risk because the lifesaving equipment needs retrieving fast for a cardiac arrest incident. Now people in every area of East Markham have peace of mind that they can act quickly in a medical emergency.”
Turtle Wind and Solar Defibrillator Cabinet in rural East Markham village, Nottinghamshire
East Markham is located in North Nottinghamshire, approximately 7 miles south of Retford. The new defibrillator is on Mark Lane, and it has been registered with The Circuit to ensure 999 call handlers can direct members of the public to the defibrillator in an emergency.
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