A new potentially life-saving 24-hour public access defibrillator has now been installed at Ottery St Mary Cricket Club.
The Ottery St Mary Mayor Vicky Johns attended an opening ceremony last Friday, (May 20), along with the cricket club's chair Rob Johns and Barry Flicker, a member of the club's committee, as well as other representatives of the club and young cricketers.
The defibrillator is the first public access one in the town. It was installed by Rob Johns and will be maintained by Otter Valley Rotary Club.
The automated electronic defibrillator (AED) – used to revive someone from a sudden cardiac arrest – has been installed at the clubhouse through Devon-based charity Jay’s Aim.
The charity funds most of the cost to provide defibrillators at sports facilities where young sportspersons may suffer sudden cardiac arrest, but the machines are also made available for use by the local community.
Dan Osborne, a trustee of the charity, said: “We were delighted to fully fund a public access defibrillator for Ottery St Mary Cricket Club. It’s a massively popular club with many adult and youth teams playing and training at the facility throughout the spring and summer months.
"We hope the defib is never needed, but it’s great to know the club and the local area have it on hand should it ever be needed in an emergency. We hope to provide training in CPR and how to use the defibrillator in the coming weeks."
Jay’s Aim has provided public access to defibrillators (PADs) in more than 50 locations throughout south-west England. Their aim is to have them within 200 metres of one another across the UK.
Barry Flicker said: "We have recently been successful in obtaining, through a local charity, a public access defibrillator, which has now been installed at our clubhouse. The machine will be available for use by anyone in the local community.”
Ottery St Mary Cricket Club also now need 30 people to sign up for defibrillator training. Contact the club on https://otterystmary.play-cricket.com/Aboutus
More information on Jay's Aim is available on their website - https://www.jaysaim.co.uk/introduction.
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