West Lindsey now has 80 Defibrillators across the district to help save lives

The scheme, which is part of a five-year funding project running until March 2023, has allowed for the vital equipment to be placed in rural areas as far as 25 minutes away from the nearest hospital.

Coun Owen Bierley, chairman of the prosperous communities committee at West Lindsey District Council, said: “The health and wellbeing of our communities is always a massive priority for the council, and always will be.

"Investing in easily accessible, ready, fully functioning defibs, available in the most rural and difficult-to-reach places within our communities, is a necessary and vital step to allow local residents safe and ready emergency equipment within their reach.

“Our communities are some of the most rural in the entire country; it can be as far as a 25-minute journey to the nearest hospital for a resident from Brookenby, for instance.

"In an emergency, when there is an urgent need for medical assistance, those minutes and seconds can be vital.

"I am extremely proud of the work being done with this project, and I am excited to witness its growth further.”

The use of Defibrillators, or Automated External Defibrillators, are standard use by paramedics and ambulance crews. Commonly known as Defibs, the portable devices can be used on someone having a cardiac arrest, to check the heart rhythm and restore it to normal, via an electric shock. Receiving the access codes to use a Defib must be achieved by calling emergency number 999 first.

Since 2016, the scheme has seen Defibrillators installed on buildings and other typical features such as telephone boxes, village halls, pubs, care homes, parks, council buildings and even on the sides of houses.

Locations across the district include devices in Gainsborough, Saxilby, Scotter and Welton, as well as rural locations such as Grayingham, Kexby, and Hemswell.

West Lindsey District Council are committed to installing even more devices over the next few years, and are looking for communities wishing to host them.

A financial contributions of £400, which can come from the organisation applying or from local fundraising, donations or funding, must be made for each defibrillator applied for.

To find out more information, visit www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/my-services/my-community/grants-and-funding/community-defibrillator-scheme.

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