Residents invited to get involved in defibrillator mapping
Sheena Nelson, of Helensburgh and Gareloch Rotary Club, with Cllr Marie McNair.
West Dunbartonshire Council will use £50,000 to increase the availability of defibrillators in the area – and they want your help.
As part of a public awareness campaign, residents are being encouraged to let them know where the existing life-saving kits are located, and request additional defibrillators if they feel they are required in their community.
It is anticipated that by mapping out the defibrillators, the reserved budget can be used to fill gaps and ensure the best chance of help for anybody who requires assistance.
The Council is working in partnership with Scottish Ambulance and Heartstart Scotland.
Members of the Communities team will help residents access funding for both the defibrillators and training in how to use them.
They are hosting a Save a Life day on 24 November to raise awareness of the importance of the machines, and encourage community groups to take training or apply for funding for their own defibrillator.
Councillor Marie McNair, who is Vice Chair of West Dunbartonshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership and chairs a working group on defibrillator awareness, said: “Our objective is have the defibrillators publicly accessible 24/7. In order to do this, we want to provide training to the community and effectively have them take ownership of the defibrillator in their area.
“It’s a huge piece of work but I am confident that we can achieve our aim with the help of our partners and the wider community.
“The Council has a number of defibrillators at buildings and schools across the area, but we know from our work with the Scottish Ambulance Service that there is likely to be more in the area that are not registered.
“We want to encourage residents to let us know if they know the location of a defibrillator – if we know where each one is, we can spend the £50,000 on plugging any gaps. Knowing all the locations means we can share this information with the Ambulance Service, to be passed on in case of an emergency.
“We want to get to a situation where lifesaving treatment from one of these devices is never too far away and I would urge businesses, organisations and community groups to go along to the Save a Life day and learn how to use these devices.”
The Save a Life event is taking place on the 24 November at Waterfront Church, Abbotsford Road, Clydebank, from 12noon until 3pm.
For further information on how to purchase a defibrillator, apply for training or to report the location of a defibrillator please contact the Communities Team at yourcommunity@west-dunbarton.gov.uk