Tracey’s Community Defibrillator Campaign is going from strength to strength with the latest leg of the project supporting the Community Heartbeat Trust and BT in their adopt a phone box to house a defibrillator initiative.
This week saw the project’s first phone box medical centre ready for use in Ditton. The defibrillator is housed in the phone box where Nursery Road meets Woodlands Road and is accessible to any member of the local community who should need to use it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Tracey is delighted with the recent developments, she explained;
“Sudden Cardiac Arrest happens to people of all ages. A Sudden Cardiac Arrest victim’s chance of survival increases significantly from around 5% to 75% if they receive good CPR combined with therapy delivered by a Heart Defibrillator within the first 3 minutes after a Cardiac Arrest. With ambulance target times at 8 minutes, direct access to community defibrillators like this one in Ditton really will save lives.
I am so pleased we have secured a phone box defibrillator for Ditton alongside our community defibrillators in Snodland, Wouldham, Burham and Chatham and many located within community hubs, with more phone box and public access points in the pipeline, watch this space.”
Tracey teamed up with local Kent County Councillor Peter Homewood for the phone boxes project, who kindly funded this part of the project.
Peter said “I am so pleased to support such a community driven project making these lifesaving pieces of kit more accessible to local communities.”
The box and the defibrillator will now be maintained by local Ditton Borough Councilors Ben Walker and Tom Cannon, Ben said;
“I am delighted that we have been able to provide Ditton residents with a defibrillator accessible 24/7. With 80% of Cardiac Arrests taking place at home, the Phone Box opposite Nursery Road is the perfect location.”
The local Councillors are going to run a competition for local children to help improve the appearance of the phone box.
Councillor Tom Cannon said “To be really effective I encourage everyone to talk about the new defibrillator and its location with friends and neighbours. We look forward to working with the community to now help improve the aesthetic appeal of the phone box.”
The unveiling of the Ditton defibrillator this week has seen momentum building for the project with lots of praise given to local Electrician Greg, from Go Installations, for giving up his Monday evening to install the defibrillator.
Heart problems can knock you down but local Heart Support Groups help you get back on your feet as well as forge life-long friendships. Medway Maritime Hospital has a British Heart Foundation affiliated Heart Support Group for more information please visit www.bhf.org.uk
When it comes to anything heart related the British Heart Foundation’s ‘Heart Matters Helpline’ are here to help. Call 0300 330 3300 or email [email protected]. For support or information on Heart Conditions, Healthy eating, Heart medications, Heart Support Groups, keeping your heart healthy or lowering your risk factors such as high blood pressure.