LIFE-SAVING equipment to treat victims of cardiac arrest has now been installed in Highworth thanks to the generous hearts of Lions.

The defibrillator donated by town’s Lions Club has been installed at The Plough and unveiled at a special ceremony yesterday.

It is one of four life-saving pieces of equipment funded by the group. The others are located at the council offices in Gilbert’s Lane, the police station porch at Newburgh Place and the community centre in the Dormers.

Each defibrillator cost £2020, which the Lion’s club funded partly through sales at its charity shop in Newburgh Place, community fundraising, and a generous anonymous donation of £2000. The group were advised to secure four machines following a survey of the town by charity The Community Heartbeat Trust.

“We were thrilled with the size of the anonymous donation which made raising the rest of the money much less daunting,” said member Rodney Davis.

“The Community Heartbeat Trust undertook a survey of the town and advised us on the right number of defibrillators for the size of the town’s population, and where to put them.

“If someone has a heart attack and becomes unconscious, the first thing that whoever is with them should do is call the ambulance. The ambulance service will then advise where the nearest defibrillator is located and give you the code to get into it. No-one needs special training to use one because as soon as it’s opened up, there are instructions to tell you what to do, and the first one is ‘Don’t Panic!’”

The faster a defibrillator machine is used on victims of cardiac arrest, the better are their chances of survival. A cardiac arrest patient has a survival rate up to 49 per cent when a defibrillator is used in the first five to seven minutes after the attack. Following The Community Heartbeat Trust’s recommendation to install defibrillators in prominent locations, the Arkell’s pub located on the town’s main through road was selected.

George Arkell said: “With The Plough being at the heart of the local community, we are delighted to be able to have the defibrillator here. But while most people want to use new equipment, we hope that in this case everyone remains healthy and it isn’t used at all.”