Charity presents Newport police team with lifesaving defibrillator
Newport’s policing team will now have a life-saving defibrillator as part of their equipment.
The town's local policing team has taken delivery of the automated external defibrillator, often called an AED or Defib, which will be carried in the Neighbourhood Team's 4x4 vehicle.
The new equipment has been secured as a result of a joint effort between the officers, Newport Community First Responders and the Henry Angell-James Memorial Trust (HAJMT) which has funded and supplied the machine itself.
Pc Lee Thomas from the Newport police team said: “Defibrillators save lives, of that there is no doubt, and over the past few years we have seen some of our traffic units equipped with AEDs and generally there is one kept at each police station.
"But of course as a safer neighbourhood team we are out and about most of our working day, often in quite rural locations nowhere near a police station, which means if we are called to a location where a defib is needed, it can take quite some time to locate one and bring it to the scene.
"And the one thing a patient in need of a defib doesn’t have is time.”
He added: “It’s not so bad in Newport town, where there are a number of public defibs located, but out in the villages and rural areas the picture isn’t yet the same. It matters not whether it’s an ambulance, the police or a member of the public who has managed to access a public defibrillator, the only thing that matters is getting the equipment to the patient in need as quickly as possible, and that’s where our ability to get to places others often can’t comes in.
“We spoke with Russ Brookes from the Newport Community First Responders about our concerns over defibrillator availability in more rural areas and he very kindly put us in touch with the Henry Angell-James Memorial Trust who have been extremely supportive of our efforts and supplied us with an AED which will be kept in our patrol vehicle.
Sally Angell-James, chairman of the HAJMT, said: "The Newport Safer Neighbourhood Team put together such a good application for an AED. They are often the first resource to a medical incident in their rural area and the trustees felt that to have an AED in their response vehicle could only help the community. As we are fully aware, speed is of the essence when someone is in cardiac arrest."
