Rural community gains lifesaving equipment

24th August 2022

A disused BT telephone kiosk on the rural outskirts of Saffron Walden will potentially save lives having been repurposed to hold a defibrillator, thanks to a grant from Essex Heart Fund as well as from others.

The request for a defibrillator, which can be accessed by any member of the public with a code, came from the Audley End Community Project as their nearest available one was “two miles away in either direction”.

Essex Heart Fund (EHF) is managed through the independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF), and was set up by two local cardiologists to provide better support for Essex patients and to fund lifesaving research.

Deb Manchip, who co-ordinated the installation of the defibrillator, said: “It was important that we found the funding needed to install a defibrillator in the village as the nearest one was two miles away in either direction, and it’s the same distance to the nearest doctor.

“It brings a lot of comfort for people locally to know that if someone has a cardiac arrest in the village, we now have the equipment that could save their life.”

She added, “We are hosting regular sessions to ensure that local people are trained in how to use the equipment and feel confident in doing so”.

Dr Gerald Clesham, cardiologist and co-founder of EHF, said: “If a defibrillator is used on someone suffering a sudden cardiac arrest within the first minute, the survival rate can be as high as 90%.

“It is vital that smaller, rural communities like Audley End have access to this life-saving equipment and know how to use it correctly, should tragedy strike.

“We are pleased to have funded this defibrillator and have a number of other local projects underway to help people with heart conditions in the community, and through research, which is all thanks to local people who donate to the Essex Heart Fund.”

For more information about EHF and to donate, visit essexheartfund.org.uk.

If you are in need of grant, please contact the ECF grants team on 01245 356018.