Defibrillator installed to help boarding school students in Shropshire
An Automatic External Defibrillator has been installed at a boarding house in Shropshire whose students and staff have been trained in how to act if anybody ever suffers medical problems.
The machine, which could restart the heart of someone who suffers a cardiac arrest, will be kept at Adams House, the boarding home for pupils at Thomas Adams School and Adams College in Wem, after a first responder began working there.
Lynne Stokes, of Prees, suggested a HeartStart Course and the defibrillator once she became a house parent in January.
She said: “I love working here and helping to make sure the pupils settle in, I want to make a positive contribution to their lives.
“I heard about the defibrillator at the school which was installed last year and realised that as this is a different site, it would not be able to help anyone here.
“This is a 24 hour site. It is important because you just never know, hopefully it won’t need to be used.”
The defibrillator has been installed with the help of the North Shropshire Community First Responders and West Midlands Ambulance Service.
It follows a machine which was installed at the school site in Lowe Hill in November.
Eleven members of staff there have been trained how to use it following the death of English Teacher Gareth Utting, who died suddenly from a suspected heart attack on April 2 (2014), aged just 37.
Richard Bebbington, of Tilstock, is a community paramedic with West Midlands Ambulance Service and said installing machines on different sites is a good idea.
He said: “It's time critical if someone collapses, the defibrillator needs to be with the person as fast as possible.
“The more defibrillators there are around the better, they should be on every street corner".
Nicki Cooper, head of boarding, said this new addition means all pupils across Thomas Adams School, Adams College and Adams House are reachable within three minutes if they need treatment.
She said: “It is something we have been discussing for quite a long time, we are really grateful that we can have it here.
“We going to be trained by Richard and the Community First Response HeartStart team in the defibrillator but also choking, CPR, major bleeds, recovery position and how to recognise a heart attack.
“Nine members of staff at the boarding house will have training and some sixth formers will be trained as well.
“We wouldn’t expect them to take the lead but to assist if there were ever an instance that we needed to put our training to use, we hope it would meant they are just less likely to panic.”
