Ludlow Defib4You is a life saving community scheme set up by a group of councillors in 2012 to: build up and maintain a stock of Community Access Defibrillators (CPADs) in good, safe working order; provide training and updating of volunteers both in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs); manage volunteers who offer to attend AED emergency calls via Numbers Plus, their updating and DBS clearance; and inform the public about this local life saving community scheme encouraging support both practical and financial. Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of premature death, but with immediate treatment many lives can be saved. SCA occurs because the electrical rhythm that controls the heart is replaced by a chaotic disorganised electrical rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF). The quicker VF can be treated by defibrillation the greater the chance of successful resuscitation. Seconds count, and the ambulance service is unlikely to arrive quickly enough to resuscitate most victims. Many SCA victims can be saved if persons nearby recognise what has happened, summon the ambulance service with the minimum of delay, perform basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (particularly chest compressions) and use an AED to provide a high energy electric shock to restore the heart’s normal rhythm. Each of these stages is a link in a chain of events that provide the best chance of success, but the critical factor is the speed with which the shock is given. Nevertheless, the victim’s chance of survival falls by around 7-10% with every minute that defibrillation is delayed. Only rarely are the emergency medical services able to attend and provide defibrillation early enough, and the best way of ensuring prompt defibrillation is for someone nearby to use an AED to deliver the shock that can often save a life. In Ludlow there are now twelve CPADS, located at: Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Ludlow Homecare, Ludlow Mascall Centre, Ludlow Methodist Church, Broad Street, Rockspring Community Centre, Tesco, The Parish Centre, St Peters Church, Vision Homes, 1b Tollgate Road, Culmington Village Hall, DMS Plastics, Lingen Road, and also two AEDs inside the buildings of: The Church Inn Ludlow Primary School (currently not available). All are registered on The Circuit – The National Defibrillator Network. For more information about this life-saving community scheme or to receive a copy of the Scheme’s latest newsletter, please contact Penelope using the email address provided. For more information on AEDs, please follow the related link. AED Training and Refresher sessions have been on hold during the coronovirus pandemic and their volunteer callout scheme via Numbers Plus has been curtailed. Some training was resumed in the Autumn of 2021 concentrating mainly on those prepared to respond to emergency AED calls, followed by further Training in Feb 2022. Plans for Training and Refreshers Sessions are being made for 2023. 01584 876992 07747 025798 https://www.facebook.com/LudlowDefib4You https://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-Heartbeat-Trust/162776763775406 Community Heartbeat Trust website. http://www.communityheartbeat.org.uk Resuscitation Council (UK): Downloadable copy of A Guide to AEDs. https://www.resus.org.uk/publications/a-guide-to-aeds British Heart Foundation: Information and support. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport We're sorry but <%= htmlWebpackPlugin.options.title %> doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Please enable it to continue.
