Services for Independent Living (SIL) has installed a heart defibrillator in its Leominster office and the use of the kit, if required in an emergency, is available to anyone working or visiting a business in the Leominster Enterprise Park.
Defibrillators are devices that apply an electric charge or current to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat. If the heart rhythm stops due to cardiac arrest a defibrillator may help it start beating again.
The UK survival rate if someone experiences a cardiac arrest is just 8% without intervention. Manual CPR raises this to 12%, but by using an AED the survival rate increases to between 50 – 70%, depending on how quickly it is administered.
SIL’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is easy to use, portable, with clear step-by-step instructions so anyone can use it, from a bystander to a trained professional. SIL’s offices are open from 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday and the kit is mounted in the reception area. In an emergency speak to someone on reception and they will be able to help you locate the kit.
SIL wants its AED never to be used but hopes that should someone experience a cardiac arrest in its locality, that person will have the best possible chance of living.