New defibrillator installed at Fashion Corner

Joy Barlow, Councillor Jaqueline Beswick and Lisa Kimpton with the newly installed defibrillator

A new defibrillator has been installed at Fashion Corner - home to approximately 120 children’s services staff members - which 999 ambulance service operators can direct people to use during the opening hours of weekdays.

Staff working at Fashion Corner will also be trained in basic CPR and defibrillator use so they are confident in helping someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest should they ever witness an emergency. Performing these techniques in the crucial minutes before an ambulance arrives can triple a person’s chances of survival.

Cardiac arrest is one of the biggest killers in the country and it can happen to anybody regardless of their age or physical health. Currently, only 8.6% of victims will survive a cardiac arrest but it is hoped this can be increased by improving the provision of defibrillators across the borough and encouraging more residents to perform bystander CPR.

Councillor Jaqueline Beswick, Rochdale Borough Council cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “It is vital that CPR and defibrillation is performed on a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest as soon as possible so they have a fighting chance. That is why it is great to see more defibrillators being installed and even more local people learning how to be life savers.

“I am so pleased with the progress of our Roch Defibs project so far but we want people in the borough of Rochdale to have the same chances of surviving a cardiac arrest as people in Denmark, where currently 45% of victims survive.

"Anyone can save a life so if you want to fundraise for a defibrillator in your community or arrange a cardiac smart training session, get in touch and we will do our best to help.”

This defibrillator is the latest to be installed as part of the life-saving ‘Roch Defibs’ project; a council and North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) partnership project which aims to increase the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest in the borough.

The project has installed another 25 defibrillators in highly-populated and easily accessible community venues across the borough, with plans to increase this to 32 in the coming months, and almost 2000 local people have been trained in CPR and defibrillation.