Advice on CPR and the Parish Defibrillators
Following the South Central Ambulance Service announcing a critical incident and with the ongoing industrial action, Selborne Parish Council is providing the following update on CPR and defibrillators.
The Council has three defibrillators – one on the front of Selborne Village Hall, one on Oakhanger Village Hall and one on the wall of the car park to the rear of Blackmoor Village Hall. Photos showing each defibrillator are attached below. There is also a fourth defibrillator in the courtyard beside the Wakes Museum tea room.
NHS Advice for CPR on adults
If someone is unconscious and not breathing normally, call 999 and start CPR straight away.
When you call 999 for an ambulance, you should be given basic life-saving instructions over the phone, including advice about CPR.
If you have been trained in CPR, including rescue breaths, and feel confident using your skills, you should give chest compressions with rescue breaths.
If you’re not completely confident, attempt hands-only CPR instead.
Hands-only CPR
To carry out a chest compression:
- Kneel next to the person and place the heel of your hand on the breastbone at the centre of their chest. Place the palm of your other hand on top of the hand that’s on their chest and interlock your fingers.
- Position yourself so your shoulders are directly above your hands.
- Using your body weight (not just your arms), press straight down by 5 to 6cm (2 to 2.5 inches) on their chest.
- Keeping your hands on their chest, release the compression and allow their chest to return to its original position.
- Repeat these compressions at a rate of 100 to 120 times a minute until an ambulance arrives or for as long as you can.
CPR with rescue breaths
- Place the heel of your hand on the centre of the person’s chest, then place the palm of your other hand on top and press down by 5 to 6cm (2 to 2.5 inches) at a steady rate of 100 to 120 compressions a minute.
- After every 30 chest compressions, give 2 rescue breaths.
- Tilt the person’s head gently and lift the chin up with 2 fingers. Pinch the person’s nose. Seal your mouth over their mouth and blow steadily and firmly into their mouth for about 1 second. Check that their chest rises. Give 2 rescue breaths.
- Continue with cycles of 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths until they begin to recover or emergency help arrives.
Defibrillators
A clip on the use of the defibrillators is accessible here – worth viewing before you need to use one!
Using a Defibrillator – Bing video
In the event of a suspected heart attack the advice is to stay with the casualty, call 999, apply CPR straight away and send a second person to access the defibrillator.
When you call 999 for an ambulance, you should be given basic life-saving instructions over the phone, including advice about CPR and you will also alert Community First Responders – trained local volunteers with their own defibrillators who assist as soon as possible while you are waiting for an ambulance.
You will also need to call 999 to obtain the access code to open the cabinet containing the defibrillator.
It is the same code for all three of the Parish defibrillators but a different code for the one at the Wakes Museum. In the event of any delay in getting through on the 999 number please ask a helper to make a separate call to one of the following Parish Councillors who have the door code (but only for the Parish defibrillators !):
Cllr Guy Masson 07718 520857
Cllr Jo Clay 01420 511 497
Cllr David Ashcroft 01420 511 011/07966 511868
Cllr Seema Bennett 07833 143974
Cllr Carol McMeekan 01420 476 098
Cllr Wendy Megeney 01420 511 580
Cllr Nikki O’Donnell 07752 129346
Cllr Alan Parker 07817 350492
Cllr Matt Turner 07885 813749
We hope the above is useful.
