Motor company installs life-saving defibrillators in all its Midlands depots
A Volvo dealership has ensured everyone in Walsall is safer after installing a defibrillator in its depot.
The Hartshorne Group has donated the life-saving medical devices at its Bentley Mill depot as well as in Erdington, Walsall, Shrewsbury and Nottingham and all are equipped with voice instructions.
Each machine is registered on an official database so that 999-callers can be directed to them.
The company, which supplies and services Volvo trucks and buses across the region, now plans to install further defibrillators in partnership with West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Defibrillators come with voice instructions so that they can be used by anybody in order to restart somebody's heart in the event of a cardiac arrest.
Managing director of Hartshorne Group Ian Middleton said: "We are pleased to be funding defibrillators for community use as part of our Healthy Heart Campaign. I'd like to thank the ambulance service for the fantastic support they are providing to help us make this happen."
Hartshorne recently hosted a training session at which its staff were given advice by the ambulance service, which included being shown how to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). In the UK there are 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year. Only one in 10 survive.
Andy Jeynes, community response manager for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "I'm very proud to support Hartshorne's initiative to install heart defibrillators. If somebody suffers a cardiac arrest, their chances of survival are greatly increased by CPR and the use of a defibrillator."
Mr Jeynes is pictured at the recent training session with Hartshorne staff. The company has depots at sites off Chester Road in Birmingham, Bentley Mill Close in Walsall, and Ainsdale Drive in Shrewsbury.
Hartshorne has directly funded the defibrillators. The company also has sites at Alfreton, Burton, Potteries (Newcastle-under-Lyme) and Nottingham.
It is now working to raise additional funds by donating £1 for every hour of healthy exercise that staff track via an app. This can include environmentally friendly methods of commuting, such as walking or cycling to work.
