When a group of mums went on a first aid
course organised by Geddington School’s
Parents’ Association, they were given some
shocking statistics concerning survival rates
from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and told how
important early defibrillation is to a patient’s
survival. To achieve a positive outcome when
dealing with SCA, medical assistance must
be given within four-five minutes of the event.

However, in rural areas it can take more than
eight minutes for an emergency medical team to
arrive on scene. When their instructor mentioned
that many rural villages are starting to fundraise
to place defibrillators within their communities -
Community Public Access Defibrillators or cPADs
- often located in high visibility cabinets outside
buildings such as village halls or post offices, the
group of mums wondered whether it might be
possible to get a defibrillator into Geddington.

They started researching and discovered a
charity called the Community Heartbeat Trust
(CHT) which specialises in getting defibrillators
into rural communities. The CHT has been a
great resource of information and guidance,
helping to choose what type of defibrillator might
be suitable, suggesting ideal locations and the
ongoing governance required to keep it registered
with the ambulance service. The main initiators,
Kerry Audis and Louise Chambers, then also
approached the Geddington Volunteer Fire
Brigade to see if they might be able to assist in
fundraising to buy the defibrillator and the cabinet,
and were absolutely amazed when they offered
the full amount!

Placing the unit was not straightforward as both
the gel pads and the battery in the defibrillator
need to be kept above a certain temperature
and, therefore, need power. This left Kerry &
Louise with only a couple of suitable locations
within the village, but when they learned about
a partnership scheme between CHT and BT to
place defibrillators within underused phone boxes
the answer became clear. Geddington is lucky in
that its phone kiosk is placed next to the Village
Hall where many village and sporting events
take place so this location also made sense
geographically. The Parish Council agreed to
adopt the phone kiosk under the scheme, and the
cabinet now receives free electricity from BT to
keep the defibrillator inside heated.

A year on, the defibrillator is now up and running
and live with the ambulance service. It is located
in a high visibility yellow cabinet inside the BT
Phone Kiosk outside the Post Office on Queen
Street. The cabinet is locked and can only be
opened by a member of the public with an access
code given by the emergency services via a 999
call.

Whilst the machine can be used safely by
members of the public with no medical training,
in order to build confidence within the community,
the Community Heartbeat Trust will be offering an
awareness session on Tuesday 12th January at
7pm in Geddington Village Hall. The course will
include information on recognising cardiac arrest,
administering CPR and how to use the defibrillator.
If you would like to attend this session, please
email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 
Defibrillator in Geddington