New defibrillator to be ‘lifeline’ for visitors and community at Lincolnshire Wildlife Park

Lincolnshire Wildlife Park has a new defibrillator thanks to Group Together Ltd, EMAS and East Lindsey District Council.

The Park was approached by Group Together Ltd. who wanted to donate a defibrillator to the Park in partnership with the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).

It was presented to Steve Nichols, CEO at the Park, by Davey Downes, Training and Events

Manager in June 2021.

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart of someone who is in cardiac arrest. This high energy shock is called defibrillation, and it's an essential part in trying to save the life of someone who’s in cardiac arrest.

Keeping everyone who visits the Park, along with local residents, safe and secure is hugely

important, which is why this brand-new defibrillator is now located on Dickonhill Road, outside the entrance to The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park.

Davey Downes said: "We have donated the defibrillator as the park is growing year by year and

attracts people from all different backgrounds to the area.

"With the high numbers that attend the Park, it made sense for us to get a defibrillator for there. After teaching the staff First Aid, we realised how dedicated they all are about not only their animals on site but the visitors to the site.

"Now they have a defibrillator, if a cardiac event happens, the chances of survival are much higher.

"GroupTogether Ltd and EMAS are very grateful to Lincolnshire Wildlife Park for having this life-saving piece of equipment on hand."

In addition and with financial assistance from East Lindsey District Councillor Carleen Dickinson, the Park have now been able to buy a temperature controlled and lit cabinet for this life-saving equipment, which has been sited outside the main gates to allow access for the wider community when the Park is closed.

HOW TO USE A DEFIBRILLATOR

The Defibrillator has a lock which is only accessible through obtaining a code to the cabinet. You do this through dialling 999 and get the code from the Emergency Services. At the same time, the Emergency Services will then also send out help to the location of the defibrillator.

Once you’ve obtained the code and you have access to the cabinet, the defibrillator will tell you exactly what to do. It is fully-automated, so you don’t need to worry about trying to figure things out.

If the situation arises that you need to use the defibrillator, please notify the Wildlife Park

immediately, so that, together with the emergency services, they are able to ensure that the machine is ready to use for the next emergency.

WHY ARE DEFRIBRILLATORS IMPORTANT?

According to the British Heart Foundation, less than one in 10 people in the UK survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This has been partly attributed to two factors that communities can change:

● there aren’t enough people prepared to perform CPR when someone has a cardiac arrest

● there aren’t enough defibrillators.

By having a defibrillator in our community we can play an important part in saving more lives. For more information about Defibrillators in Communities, visit the BHF website HERE.