Lymm Heart Start and Defibrillator Project
In late 2012 we met up with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), who have looked at how first aid is taught and delivered, and found there were a few simple skills that could save the lives of thousands of people every year. The steps the BHF had identified were about people recognising an emergency situation as early as possible and getting help, then if appropriate giving ‘CPR’ – Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or other treatment quickly, combined in certain circumstances defibrillation to restart the heart.
The BHF has put a course together to help with emergency first aid for the most common life threatening situations – from choking, serious bleeding, heart attack and situations where casualties are unconscious or not breathing. The course is called ‘Heartstart’, and is delivered by the team from (mainly) Lymm & District Round Table and Lymm Ladies Circle, who have been trained by the BHF to deliver the course. The project is co-ordinated by one of our members, Graham Gowland.
One of the tools that is needed to treat certain conditions, is a Defibrillator – more precisely an ‘Automatic External Defibrillator’ or AED. Now these are expensive bits of kit, and there is no way you can put one in every house, so the project co-ordinator put together a number of potential locations to position ‘Public Access AED’s’ across the village. It soon became apparent that a number of sites would be needed to put an AED reasonably close to most people in Lymm, and a proposal was put to the Parish Council for financial support. Keen to help the project, the Parish Council approved a grant of £12,450, to which we added £5,000..
At the time of writing, 7 AED’s have been fitted throughout the village, and there are 5 more in the pipeline. The AED’s have been registered with the ambulance service, and you will now be directed to the closest one to you, if needed. A big ‘Thanks’ to the many local businesses and organisations who have agreed to host an AED and have helped with the fitting.
With the AED’s in position, it is hoped to train as many people as possible who live and work in Lymm in First Aid on the Heartstart course. Over 100 people from Lymm have already completed the course, and going forwards they will be held on the first Thursday of each month at Lymm Baptist Church from 7.30pm – 9.30pm. The courses are all free, you just need to book by calling or texting 07960 625236, emailing heartstart@lymmroundtable.co.uk or booking at www.facebook.com/HeartstartLymm