A NEW defibrillator has been installed and commissioned in the Mary Baily Playing Field attached to the public tennis courts. The defibrillator is the 29th publicly accessible defibrillator in and around Frome and has been provided and will be maintained by the Friends of Frome Hospital.
Frome mayor, Philip Campagna, recently assisted with the commissioning of the new defibrillator which is registered on ‘The Circuit’ – the national defibrillator network which provides the NHS ambulance service with vital information about defibrillators in the community.
The Friends of Frome Hospital (FOFH) took over the supply of the defibrillator from Selwood Tennis Club who had commenced fundraising for a new defibrillator last year. The tennis club was supported in their fundraising by Frome Town Council and Frome Park Bowling Club as well as public donations.
John Price, a director at the tennis club, said, “The club was pleased to lead on the fundraising for the defibrillator, and it showed what can be done when local people and organisations work together on local projects.”
Richard Lines, defibrillator co-ordinator for the FOFH, added, “Victoria Park was being considered as a location for a defibrillator due to the cluster of community groups and activities in the area. The fundraising by the community has contributed to the cost of adding to the network in and around Frome which now totals 29 defibrillators.
“We are also pleased to be able to provide an emergency bleed kit with the new defibrillator. This is the third bleed kit in Frome which have been provided in a joint initiative with Avon and Somerset Police.”
This initiative from the police aims to make bleed kits readily accessible to give members of the public the equipment to help preserve or save a life in the event of an emergency in which a person is losing a lot of blood having sustained an injury.
The highly visible red dispensers will give members of the public free access to this trauma kit in the event of an emergency, providing instant first aid to someone who is experiencing significant loss of blood or a catastrophic bleed during the moments before an ambulance arrives on the scene.
Once installed, the defibrillators in Frome are monitored and maintained by eight defibrillator guardians who undertake minimum fortnightly checks. The Frome defibrillators have been widely used, were accessed 50 times last year, and required a significant amount of replacement parts, including the replacement of a complete defibrillator which went missing in an emergency incident.
Richard explained, “Frome was reputed to be the first town in the country to introduce, many years ago, a comprehensive network of life saving Public Access Defibrillator (PAD). All of the supplied defibrillators are HeartSine Samaritan PAD 500P models and these units have integrated CPR Advisor. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED’s are key links in the chain of survival of sudden cardiac arrest and the advanced functionality assists ensuring effective CPR.”
Ken Fricker, chairman of FOFH said, “We thank everyone for the generous donations that enable us to provide this essential facility for Frome, it is a proven life saver and one we wish to maintain and extend. As an early adopter of PADs, the Friends have units approaching the end of their service life and members are currently investigating the need for a potential replacement. This is potentially a big commitment for us in the next few years”.
If you are able to support the FOFH then you can email the group at friendsoffromehospital@gmail.com or use the contact form at www.friendsoffromehospital.org.uk
