New life-saving equipment for Ludlow

A joint venture between The League of Friends of Ludlow Hospital and Ludlow Defib 4 You has resulted in the renewal of existing Community Public Access Defibrillators and providing additional sites around the Town.

At a presentation last week, The League handed over six new defibrillators and cabinets to Abina Laishley, Ludlow Defib 4 You Management Committee, and one portable defibrillator to Kevin Bursnell of Ludlow Football Club, at a total cost of £10.733.
 
“There is no doubt that access to this equipment in the Town is vital in the event that someone suffers a sudden heart complication.   The League has already installed sophisticated heart monitoring and defibrillator equipment in Ludlow Hospital Minor Injuries unit and provided equipment for the Community First Responders, and renewing and expanding the Community Public Access Defibrillators will be of enormous benefit for residents and visitors alike.   The latest equipment is simple to use and will not allow the operator (whether trained or not) to make a mistake or endanger the life of the patient.   Similarly, with the Football Club, it is imperative that emergency equipment is available for home and away fixtures as proved recently at Alvechurch” said Peter Corfield, Chairman of The League.
 
Abina Laishley, in accepting the equipment, explained that Ludlow Defib 4 You exists to preserve and protect the health of people in the Ludlow area by providing and maintaining Community Access Defibrillators (CPADs) and to recruit and train volunteers to operate CPADs.   “Ludlow Defib 4 You was started in 2012 by Priscilla Toop supported by local councillors.   Priscilla’s husband had died of a heart attack and she didn’t know what to do.   She felt strongly that if a CPAD had been available he may have had a chance of survival and even though she had since
re-located to Wales her work and determination is carried on today by our management team.”
 
 
The CPADs provided by The League of Friends will replace the four current machines at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, the Bishop Mascall Centre, Ludlow Homecare and Rockspring Community Centre.   The two extra machines will be sited at Tesco and to the North of the Town (Sheet Road/Parys Road to be finalized).   Two of the existing Cardiac Science G3 AEDs will be rehoused in indoor locations-St Laurence’s Church and Ludlow Junior School. The other two machines will need new batteries at a cost of £199.00 within next few months as will the Culmington Village G5! 
 
The presentation ended with a defibrillator demonstration by Chris Phillips of Heartstart Midlands using a resuscitation dummy and one of the new iPADs.   He showed how the machine gave verbal instructions, which in the event of an actual emergency would be supplemented by guidance from the 999 operator.