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Defibrillators for Warsop Parish

White heart against a red background

When Big Warsop was approached by Paul Sear of Meden Vale based Care Trainers about funding to buy and fit a defibrillator for a local community pub, his request was to prove the catalyst for an even bigger idea. Why not purchase and install defibrillators across the parish?

With this idea approved and funding agreed for the defibrillators, the next task for the project group was to identify suitable public areas within the parish to locate the devices. Six locations were agreed, including Warsop Fire Station, Church Warsop Surgery and local shops. Big Warsop provided almost £8,000 for the purchase and installation of defibrillators and vandal-proof boxes at five of these locations. The sixth device was funded separately by Friends of Meden Vale.

“Having access to defibrillators will enable the parish to provide a fast response in the case of a medical emergency, when the first few minutes can be so critical,” said Lesley Watkins, the Big Warsop Plan Co-ordinator. “However, we knew that the defibrillators wouldn’t be any help unless we had local people trained to use them – so during Adult Learners’ Week in June 2015 Big Warsop funded training for 28 local people.”

Further training sessions have been held since then, giving even more local people the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to use the defibrillators should they need to.

Paul Sear is from Care Trainers, the local company that delivered the training. He said:

It’s been humbling to see how many local people care about others and have been willing to give up their time to undertake the training.

“I was overwhelmed when I asked Big Warsop for one defibrillator and got five. The Friends of Meden Vale have also worked hard to raise the money for the sixth, including Nick Tipple, Julie Hemsall, Mark Sear, Sarah Sear, and Peter Clarke from Pearl Installations.”

The six defibrillators were fitted in the parish during August and September and, whilst thankfully they haven’t been needed yet, their presence does makes the community feel a much safer place to be.

“No-one wants to have to use a defibrillator, but it’s reassuring to know they are there if needed,” concluded Lesley Watkins. “Historically there has always been a strong tradition within Warsop Parish of people looking out for their neighbours and taking care of each other. Bringing local people together to learn how to use the defibrillators has helped to rebuild and strengthen that strong sense of community.”

 

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