KEETCH CALLS FOR MORE COUNTY DEFIBRILLATORS

8.18.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 23rd Aug 2007

If there is one person who knows just how important a heart defibrillator can be, it's probably Hereford's MP Paul Keetch! Had the Virgin Atlantic plane he was travelling on not carried one then he would have died on his way to the USA in July. Now he's joining calls for more such Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to be in and around the Herefordshire.

"I am astonished just how few AEDs are in the county," Paul said. "Given that in some circumstances they can be provided free, along with free training as to how to use them, it's incredible that some of our major employers and public buildings do not have them. They really can mean the difference between life and death."

250 people a day die of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in the UK most of whom would be saved if they were defibrillated. With only 5% of people surviving outside hospital that have a sudden cardiac arrest, more defibrillators in public areas could save hundreds of lives.

Paul Keetch, who is the Patron of local charity Herefordshire HeartStart, says that people should ask their employers to have the machines available. With the Ambulance Service also keen to help with training, there should be no excuse.