Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) is working with Kent Police as part of their ongoing mission to increase the use and awareness of Public Access Defibrillators (PADs).
Public Access Defibrillators
Kent’s emergency services already work together on a daily basis to help save lives and keep communities safe, but KFRS has now also gifted thirty defibrillators to Kent Police to help increase public access to PADs around the county.
We have since teamed with Kent Police and gifted the service with thirty defibrillators"
A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall of someone who is in cardiac arrest. Called a defibrillation, this high energy shock is an essential life-saving step in the chain of survival.
Emergency assistance
KFRS Station Manager Dave Harris worked with Kent Police on the project and says the defibrillators will now be distributed between Kent Police staff and placed in areas that will benefit the community.
“Following our ongoing mission to promote the distribution and use of PADs, we have since teamed with Kent Police and gifted the service with thirty defibrillators, to be placed in areas where they will be of use to the wider community.”
Firefighters health and safety
“These will be in addition to the defibrillators we have fitted outside every fire station in Kent, which is already available for the public to use in the event of an emergency situation where someone is in cardiac arrest. But with even more working defibrillators now active across the county, they will hopefully be able to save even more lives.” We are extremely grateful to our partners at Kent Fire and Rescue Service for the gift of thirty defibrillators"
Chief Inspector Nick Sparkes at Kent Police also said: “We are extremely grateful to our partners at Kent Fire and Rescue Service for the gift of thirty defibrillators. We are currently distributing them, and so far, fourteen will be going to special constables who are out on patrol and into our 4x4 response vehicles. Three of them will also be readily available in custody suites and another three will be moved into our dog units.”
Saving firefighters with cardiac arrests
The British Heart Foundation state that for every minute it takes for a defibrillator to reach someone in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival reduce by up to 10%. KFRS advise you to follow the below steps in an emergency involving someone in a cardiac arrest:
1. Call 999
2. Start CPR
3. Ask someone to bring a defibrillator if there’s one nearby
4. Turn on the defibrillator and follow its instructions