Simon Galley, who lives in Killester Road, is an advocate of Automated External Defibrillators (AED). He has been a St John Ambulance volunteer for the past 30 years, and is an AED trainer. He has himself used them to treat people in cardiac arrest, and is keen to see one installed in Gateacre Village. He believes that it would be a huge asset, delivering life-saving interventions should the worst occur. We have previously mentioned a defibrillator as a possible use for our historic telephone kiosk (if we are successful in getting it back) and we therefore asked Simon to tell us more:

"The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is keen to see defibrillators installed, but they do not receive any direct funding for this. They are reliant on members of the community to support installation. NWAS do, however, have access to recovered defibrillator stock, and could provide us with an AED and a cabinet. The location can be determined by us.

"Installation of the cabinet requires a qualified electrician, and normally costs around £200. Next a guardian is appointed: a volunteer to look after the equipment, check it weekly and report to NWAS. I'll happily take on this role.

"NWAS will require the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This sets out who is responsible for what. The Ambulance service will replace consumables if the defibrillator is used, but the custodian or other named person/organisation is responsible for funding items such as the battery and pads when they expire. The cost would be about £250 for a 4-year period. The custodian might be a community organisation, or one of the local businesses.

"I will also commit to delivering training sessions in CPR and the use of the AED. Although the machines are specifically designed to be used by lay-people, this will remove the 'fear factor' in the unfortunate event that someone is required to use the machine.

"For security the machines are held in a code-opened box, entry to which is controlled by the Ambulance Service. If someone suffers a cardiac arrest, a bystander dials 999 and is given the code to the cabinet. Upon returning to the patient with the AED, the rescuer is given instructions in its use."