KINGSBRIDGE Estuary Rotary Club members were out and about explaining their Heartstart programme with a presentation on Saturday.

Setting up on the Tesco steps in Kingsbridge, the club had information about their Heartstart scheme, in affiliation with the British Heart Foundation, which offers free courses teaching CPR, how to recognise a heart attack, how to recognise a cardiac arrest, dealing with chocking and how to use an AED – Automated External Defibrillator.

More than 700 people have been trained with the Heart Start scheme locally in the last five years and a session will be held in Kingsbridge this month, to support the new defibrillator, recently purchased by Kingsbridge Town Council – which will be installed in the Fore Street foyer of the Kings Market.

Heartstart or similar training aims to give people the confidence to use a defibrillator in combination with CPR in an emergency.

Hopefully, the initiative will help to save lives.

The KERC were also promoting our map of local defibrillators in the South Hams, which is available at tinyurl.com/southhamsdefibs, or by using the QR code on the back of our papers.

The Heartstart session in Kingsbridge will take place at Quay House on Wednesday, September 23, between 7-9pm.

To sign up, contact the town council on 01548 853296 or email: [email protected]. Numbers are limited, but there is no charge.

To discuss a Heartstart course for your local community, club or volunteer group contact Steve Kerr.

He can be contacted at Kingsbridge Estuary Rotary Club via the website: www.estuaryrotary.org.uk or email: heartstart.kings [email protected].