A generous donation from a charitable trust could turn dozens of rural communities into lifesavers.

The Four Acre Trust is donating £50,000 towards buying additional automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for rural areas of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.  To qualify, local communities need to raise half the money and the Four Acre Trust will pay the other half.

The funding should mean up to 100 extra AEDs being available to members of the public to use in the event of someone suffering a cardiac arrest. A cardiac arrest is where the heart completely stops beating and should not be confused with a heart attack - a condition where blood supply is stopped to a part of the heart. 

Every year there are over 130,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests in England. With early CPR and defibrillation, over 90% of those patients could be saved.  Sadly, only about 8% will be saved because it takes too long to get help. By increasing the number of AEDs in the community, more lives can be saved. Chair of Trustees for the Four Acre Trust, John Bothamley, said:

“We generally support charities that give individuals – mainly children and young people – help in making the most of their lives. What better way can we help those children, their parents and friends than by helping them to save a life.  We want to get as many children and young people involved in this scheme as possible as well as their parents.

“We are here to inspire local communities who have been thinking about getting a defibrillator, to get on and do it.  It’s a straight forward process and we’ll provide half of the £1,000 funding needed.  We hope as many communities will take up the offer and we can get an extra 100 defibrillators installed as soon as possible.”

When a community comes up with the funding, they should apply to the Hereford and Worcester Community First Responder (HWCFR) Charity who will arrange for the defib to be placed in a box on the likes of a church wall, school, shop or even pub; anywhere that it can be accessed 24 hours a day. West Mercia Community Response Manager, Cliff Medlicott, added:

“For every minute after the heart stop beatings, your chance of survival drops by 10% so you can see how important it is that we get more defibs out into the rural communities.

“Whether you have had training or not, you can make a difference if you know where your nearest defib is. We’d urge every local community to come together to take up this fantastically generous offer from the Four Acre Trust.”

General Manager for West Mercia with West Midlands Ambulance Service, Michelle Brotherton, said: “As someone who lives in a rural area, I have seen the value of having a defib in the community. There are people who are alive today because there was one nearby.

“If you don’t already know how to do CPR or where your nearest defib is, what better way to start 2017 than by taking up this offer and achieving both?”

Any community or group that would like to take up the offer should contact Sue Watkins via email at sue.watkins2016@gmail.com