A DEFIBRILLATOR and quick-thinking local people saved a woman’s life last week when she had a heart attack in Frome’s Westway Precinct.
The life-saving machine outside Ellenbray Toys and Stationery was called into action when a woman collapsed in the street on Monday 23rd May.
It took less than four minutes for passers-by to start using the defibrillator to restart the patient’s heart and give her a much better chance of survival.
Friends of Frome Hospital led a campaign to buy the publicly available defibrillators (PADs), which can be used by anyone nearby in an emergency. There are 20 dotted around the town, and Frome was the first place in the UK to create a network of them.
Derek Trick, who spearheaded the campaign, told Frome Times, “The full life-saving value of the defibrillator scheme was proven last Monday morning when a lady collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest in the Westway Shopping Precinct.
“Nearby nurses, shopkeepers and a security officer were able to call 999 and gain access to the PAD in the area.
“A quick and positive reaction from everyone saw the defibrillator attached to the patient in less than four minutes.
“The fully automated defibrillator shocked and resuscitated the patient four times before the paramedics arrived. Within minutes the patient, who was talking, was then transferred to an air ambulance at the Cricket Ground and transferred to the RUH then later to a hospital in Bristol.”
If used in the first four minutes after a sudden cardiac arrest, defibrillators can give victims an 80% chance of survival – a massive 16 times higher than CPR alone. The survival rate drops by 14% for each minute that passes.
The Friends of Frome Hospital installed the first of defibrillators two years ago. There has only been one other occasion one has been needed, but the patient, an elderly man with an unrecoverable medical condition, did not survive.
Peter Smith, chairman of Friends of Frome Hospital said, “We always said if the investment saved just one life it would be money well worth spent. This has been proven this week, and we will try to establish contact with the patient and check on her recovery.
“The hi-tech defibrillator was instrumental in holding the situation together until professional medics arrived. Our congratulations go to all the unsung heroes in the Westway Precinct that morning.”
