Hearty First Aid

Heartbeat Haddenham has recently installed a further publicly accessible defibrillator. The cabinet containing the life-saving device is located on the side of the Church of the Good Shepherd facing Crabtree Road. The defibrillator is available at any time in case of an emergency.

Richard Kendall of Heartbeat Haddenham said: "Bearing in mind the number of people who use Crabtree Road and The Croft/Stockwell every day — pedestrians, cyclists or in a car — this crossroads was a prime location for a defibrillator."

"We are grateful to the village groups and individuals who have made donations that have allowed us to purchase this defibrillator — and cabinet to house it — to meet the need. Thanks are also due to the Pastoral Council for 'hosting' the defibrillator."

"We hope that providing the defibrillator at this busy location will increase the chance of immediate support if anybody suffers a cardiac arrest in this part of the village."

Tony Warris of Heartbeat Haddenham added: "Thanks to generous funding from a number of organisations, community groups and individuals there are now six publicly accessible defibrillators in Haddenham. We hope to be able to provide one more to improve coverage of the village."

Defibrillators are used to treat individuals who have suffered a cardiac arrest — in other words, when the heart has stopped beating in its normal co-ordinated manner. Someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest will be unresponsive, not moving and not breathing normally. This situation may occur as a result of a heart attack, but other causes are possible.

In the New Year Heartbeat Haddenham hope to be able to offer local residents further opportunities to learn CPR and to become familiar with using a defibrillator. Watch this website for further details of Heartbeat Haddenham workshops in the coming weeks.