Council’s Local Grants Fund Supports Community Public Access Defibrillators

The council’s Local Grant Fund 2014/15 is open for applications from town and parish councils to apply for up to £3,000 for projects that will benefit local communities, with this year’s focus on community resilience.

Since the fund’s inception, the council has approved 247 applications with a value of almost £220,000 and providing tangible benefits for communities across the East Riding.

One such project which is eligible for funding is to install Community Public Access Defibrillators (cPADs) in villages.

The scheme operates in partnership with Yorkshire Ambulance Service. The ambulance service records the cabinet location and access code in its control room, so that operators can enable members of the general public, responding to a suspected cardiac arrest, to access the defibrillator. In the event of an emergency a person dials 999 for an ambulance. The operator assesses the situation and, if appropriate, provides the caller with the combination code to access the cPAD.

Councillor Jackie Cracknell, cabinet portfolio holder for community involvement and performance, said: “The council’s Local Grant Fund has been extremely successful and is allowing local communities to promote initiatives and projects at a local level that will benefit residents.

“The cPADs scheme is an excellent example of this and is improving community resilience by making life-saving equipment available and allows town and parish councils to contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.”

Paul Stevens, locality manager at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “Early access and early defibrillation along with effective CPR give the best chances of survival for a patient who suffers a cardiac arrest.

“Having a community public accessible defibrillator (cPAD) means installing a special cabinet on the outside wall of a building so that the automated external defibrillator (AED) inside can be accessible 24/7 to anyone in the vicinity who requires it.

“More people could benefit from the presence of your device and more lives could be saved. The cabinets have a key code lock and the code is accessed by calling 999 which means the device remains secure.

“By having an AED accessible quickly and easily 24-hours-a-day in your community provides commitment and care for the safety and wellbeing of local residents and visitors.”