News to Warm the Cockles

Thanks to funding from the Haddenham and District Rotary Club, Heartbeat Haddenham has been able to install yet another a publicly accessible defibrillator — this time at St Mary's Centre in Church End. The device is available at any time in case of a cardiac emergency.

Tony Warris, one of the lead campaigners of Heartbeat Haddenham, said: "Bearing in mind the number of people who visit or pass through Church End every day of the week, this area was a prime candidate. We are grateful to the Haddenham and District Rotary Club for kindly funding the defibrillator — and cabinet to house it — to meet this need. Thanks are also due to the Parochial Church Council for 'hosting' the defibrillator."

Peter Jones, the President of the Haddenham and District Rotary Club added: "We were very pleased to be able to provide a defibrillator in the village. We hope that its provision in a busy area at Church End will increase the chance of immediate support if anybody suffers a cardiac arrest in this part of the village."

Tony Warris continued: "Thanks to generous funding from a number of other organisations and from village groups and individuals, there are now five publicly accessible defibrillators in the village. We hope to be able to provide another in the near future and possibly 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.

Heartbeat Haddenham has arranged local training workshops for residents wanting to learn more about using a defibrillator and, especially important, the complementary skills of CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation). The first two workshops — see here — are already fully subscribed, but additional dates will be offered early in the new year.

For more details, Email: heartbeathaddenham@gmail.com, or telephone Tony Warris on 01844 292273.