Saturday (29th December) a man was successfully resuscitated at East Grinstead railway station by a defibrillator funded by the Sussex Heart Charity.
The person collapsed in the booking hall and a bystander used the defibrillator and administered CPR before the Ambulance Service arrived. He was taken to East Surrey hospital and is in a stable condition. We send our best wishes for a full recovery.
The AED used is part of a project with GTR/Thameslink in which the Sussex Heart Charity has funded the placement of around 70 defibrillators for railway stations across Sussex.
It is a proven concept that the only effective treatment for Ventricular Fibrillation (VF) is prompt defibrillation, although this is only true when a shock is administered within the first few minutes of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Every minute counts!
It is our passionate belief at the SHC that by having devices in locations frequented by lots of people, we provide peace of mind and ultimately will save lives!
This is why we started our AED’s in the community project and then extended it to include railway stations. We have placed in excess of 150 AED’s in local communities across the counties of Sussex and plan to place more during the coming year.
Anyone can use an AED, even if you have no medical knowledge or First Aid training!
