Health: 10 new life-saving machines placed across Calderdale

The Community CPR Fund and Calderdale Council have teamed up to install the life-saving machines across the borough.

The council worked with Neil Davidson from the Community CPR Fund to identify where the defibrillators were needed most and gifted them to organisations that support the Healthy Holidays programme.

The holidays project for young people, run by the council and the Community Foundation for Calderdale, sees venues providing free activities and nutritious food for pupils who are eligible for free school meals.

Neil, founder of the Community CPR Fund that is held by the Community Foundation for Calderdale, helped the council to install the defibrillators and provided training to the organisations on how to use them.

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, fewer than one in 10 people who have a cardiac arrest outside of hospital survive.

Defibrillation within three to five minutes of collapse can give survival rates of up to 70 per cent.

“The defibrillators have been installed to benefit everyone in our community and help save lives,” said Neil.

“Shortly after the defib was installed at Cross Lane School in Elland, a resident in a nearby care home needed a defib and it was great that it is close to them and could be accessed.”

He added there are plans to install more defibrillators and CPR training in Calderdale in the future.

Neil set up the fund after having a cardiac arrest in July 2017. His son Oliver saved his life by doing CPR on Neil for 21 minutes.