Peasedown St John is to see a new defibrillator installed, thanks to the efforts of one of the village’s Bath and North East Somerset Councillors, after over £1500 was allocated from local council funding.
Cllr Sarah Bevan (Independent) allocated more than £1,700 from her Initiative Fund to pay for the device to be installed outside The Prince of Wales Inn, located on the busy A367 at Dunkerton Hill outside of Bath.
Sarah said: “In the UK, figures show that approximately 200 people a day suffer an unexpected cardiac arrest, with the chances of survival increasing by 50% with early defibrillation.
“For every minute that passes the chances of survival decrease by more than 20%. Defibrillators therefore need to be as common as fire extinguishers in all public places and work places.
“This location at The Prince of Wales Inn has a double advantage, being both social and strategic on the A367, a road with high road collision incidents.”
As the name suggests, defibrillation stops fibrillation, the trembling that a person’s heart muscles can adopt during a cardiac arrest.
Put simply, a defibrillator works by using a high-voltage (around 200–1,000 volts) to pass an electric current through the heart so it stops working, and is then shocked into beating normally again at the correct rate.
This new defibrillator is one of 23 new machines to be installed across the local area.
Cllr Bevan’s Peasedown colleague, Cllr Karen Walker (Independent) is currently liaising with the management at Peasedown Cricket Club about using the site as a potential venue for an additional defibrillator.
Cllr Sarah Bevan added: “I’m also pleased to report that this new defibrillator outside The Prince of Wales will be installed by Peasedown-based electrician David Davis from DBD Electrical, who has agreed to install many more across the area.”
