Life saving equipment installed at WWT Slimbridge as part of a scheme to improve rural healthcare.
A defibrillator has been installed at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre as part of a county-wide initiative to improve emergency healthcare in rural locations.
Last Friday (4 July) Stroud MP, Neil Carmichael officially launched the defibrillator at WWT Slimbridge, which has been installed in the visitor centre by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).
Defibrillators can help save lives by resetting the heart’s normal rhythm in the minutes after a cardiac arrest. Anyone can use them – the machines themselves talk you through what to do and that alongside advice from our emergency call-handlers means that anyone can help to save a life.
Mr Carmichael said: “By installing this life-saving equipment it could make a real difference to someone in jeopardy at Slimbridge.”
A spokeswoman from the ambulance Trust, said: “Cardiac arrest does not discriminate against age, sex or fitness – it can happen to anyone at any time. It can be caused by many things including heart attacks, strokes and major trauma and early defibrillation for patients in cardiac arrest can make all the difference to the outcome.
“SWASFT is the most rural ambulance service in the country so by ensuring rural communities have access to a defibrillator is exceptionally important and plays a huge part in getting people the care they need, immediately – which is what is required in a cardiac arrest situation.”
