KINGSBRIDGE Police now have a defibrillator in every police car thanks to the generosity of local people.

A few of the donators were on hand on Monday to have their photos taken with the new defibrillators, or AEDs, but PC Rich Loxton who organised the fundraising for the devices said he wanted to thank everyone who donated:

‘People donated £10 or £50 here and there and I want to thank them all. We often arrive at incidents before paramedics or first responders so it makes sense to have them in the cars.’

The defibrillators are portable electronic devices that automatically diagnose the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of a heart attack and is able to treat them through defibrillation: the use of an electric shock to stop the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm.

PC Loxton raised enough money for six defibrillators, costing over £1,000 each, in just six months, which could easily have been done in three without a delay in the bank details for fundraising.

Sergeant Dave Green said: ‘To be able to raise this much money in such a short amount of time is a great show of community spirit.’

Keith Wingate, WM Construction, called it a ‘brilliant idea’ and said he was ‘happy to help’, while Peter Lee of the Kingsbridge Estuary Rotary Club said he was ‘glad to support the fundraising’ and thanked PC Loxton for organising it.

Shelia Hall also donated to the fund and said she ‘wanted to do something positive to help the police, because the police helped me.’

WM Construction bought a defibrillator outright for Kingsbridge Police, as did John Casson, an ex-Kingsbridge Police Officer himself, he is now semi-retired from his company Securewest International, specialising in maritime security worldwide.

The South Hams Hospital League of Friends is also looking to donate an extra defibrillator to be installed on the outside of the police station in Kingsbridge.

When that is installed, Kingsbridge will be covered at the top of Fore Street, in the centre with the AED at Kings Market donated by the Kingsbridge Town Council, and at the bottom of the town with one at the Ilbert Road Filling Station and Co-op, donated by the Rotary Club.

There are also AEDs at Kingsbridge Rugby Club at High House, the Crabshell Inn on Embankment Road, Quayside Leisure Centre, Absolute Dental, Mill Street Dental Surgery and three at Kingsbridge Community College.

The rugby club and Crabshell machines are accessible 24/7, while the machines at KCC, the dentists and Quayside are accessible when there is someone on site.

According to studies in medical journals, the chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital are one in 20, but your odds improve ten-fold if an electronic defibrillator is close by.

For every minute lost, survival drops by 10 percent. By 10 minutes, the average time it can take for help to arrive, it is almost always too late, this is when knowing the locations of the automated machines can be life saving.

You can find where all your local defibrillators are in the South Hams by using our interactive map at tinyurl.com/southhamsdefibs or using the QR Code on the back of our papers.Upcoming sessions will take place on Wednesday, January 20, in Frogmore, Thursday, February 4 in West Buckland and Thurlestone and on Monday, February 15, in West Charleton. All sessions run from 7-9pm. For more information, email: [email protected].