East Hedleyhope Parish Council, with the help of county councillors, the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and Richard Holden MP, has finally installed a defibrillator outside the village hall.
When it comes to life or death minutes, ambulances have to push to make it to East Hedleyhope in time. The idea of putting a defibrillator in place had been on the mind of the local community and the parish council for a while.
With the British Heart Foundation's funding on hold during Covid, Richard met with the Parish Council in August last year to see how they could raise money for a defibrillator.
The North East Ambulance Service also provided a £500 grant and the council put in £850 in through the Neighbourhood Grant.
Impressed by the strength of the community, how they came together to raise this much, Richard was pleased to personally donate towards the defibrillator and was pleased to make a visit.
The defibrillator has been installed outside the village hall. It is registered with the NEAS and the village have two guardians- Parish Councillors Tony Reeve and Deb Warde who carry out weekly checks. After social distancing measures have eased the NEAS has agreed to carry out community training on how to use the defibrillator. If you would like to be involved in the training please contact the Parish Clerk by email (hedleyhopeparishcouncil@gmail.com).
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