When Oswestry BID ran their first Defibrillator Training course, several business people from the Industrial Estates and slightly ‘out of town’ businesses were very keen to attend, but raised the point that in actual fact, there were hardly any ‘public access’ defibrillators in these areas.
So, keen to support local businesses and the wider community, BID talked to Oswestry Town Council, The Rotary Club and the First Responders to understand where the ‘gaps’ were, and purchased 6 defibs to extend coverage in these areas.
Adele Nightingale, BID Manager said: “The First Responders have been really helpful in assisting us with the process and getting these defibrillators registered on ‘The Circuit’ – this is the site where the ambulance service check to see where the nearest defibrillators are in the cases of emergency.
As with most things, Covid-19 has slowed the pace of the project, but we’re really pleased to confirm we have now successfully installed 4 of the 6 defibrillators.
These are located at the following points and all have 24 hours access, 7 days per week:
- Oswestry Electrical and Plumbing Factors (OEPF) – Maes-Y-Clawdd, Maesbury Road,
- The entrance to Artillery Business Park, Park Hall,
- P & B Tyres, Mile Oak IndustrialEstate, and
- Furrows, Whittington Road.
We also arranged for the damaged defibrillator that was hanging off the wall on Salop Road (due to vehicle collision) to be removed, checked over and re-installed on the Morris Cook’s building.
We would really like to thank all these businesses for giving their permission for the installations, and our electrical contractor Nexus Electrics for the great service they have provided. We are just awaiting permissions to install the last 2 defibrillators, but are hopeful these will be done before the end of this year.
We would like to raise awareness amongst the Oswestry community, so that everyone knows where their nearest defibrillator is, and would ask all businesses to make this part of their induction process when they take on a new member of staff. Defibrillator locations can be found on our website:
Defib Locations – One Oswestry
We are also setting up another Defibrillator Training Course to be run in January, so we’ll be contacting BID Levy Payers to offer them their free places on this very worthwhile course. So please look out for the email and sign up! It could just save someone’s life!”
Pictured: Shawn Ellis (First Responder), Adele Nightingale (BID), Carl Thomas, Service Manager, Furrows and Ady Ethelson Nexus Electrics.