At the Parish Council meeting last week the Council received a presentation from Rebecca O’Mahony, a Broomfield resident who will soon be a paramedic and is already St John’s volunteer with a keen interest in promoting the deployment of public defibrillators. Having seen the article in the Broomfield Times about our decision to acquire a defibrillator Rebecca came forward to help us make the right choice.

Although the parish has a very large hospital and an ambulance station, there is no defibrillator and there is a clear need for one.

Rebecca had done a great deal of work investigating the options and made an excellent and informative presentation on the merits of different defibrillators and mounting boxes. Council accepted the conclusion that for performance, usability and reliability we should acquire the Sentry Box housing and a Zoll 3 defibrillator which can be used by anyone without any previous training. The device analyses the heart rhythm of the patient and will only work if it is appropriate to administer a shock. Although training is not necessary Rebecca plans to be at the Fun Day on 8th July to demonstrate how these machines work.

Subject to final enquiries the unit will be mounted outside the Village Hall.

The council were advised that we should be able to secure grant funding for at least part, if not all of the cost, which will be an added bonus.

Once again can I thank Rebecca most sincerely for all the work she has put in to this project.