A new defibrillator has been fitted in Gosport

Gosport Voluntary Action and Citizens Advice Gosport have shown their commitment to the general public, as they install a new defibrillator on the outside wall of the Citizens Advice Gosport.

The fundraising for the piece of equipment began in 2019, but due to the pandemic, all plans were scuppered, but the charities began again once restrictions were lifted, and thanks to the help from a number of organisations, they were able to purchase the device.

The support received throughout the fundraising and purchasing came from Gosport charity, Thorngate Trust; former Gosport borough councillor, Lynn Hook; Hampshire county councillor, Lesley Meenaghan, and Gosport borough councillor, Zoe Huggins.

Kay Hallsworth, CEO at Gosport Voluntary Action, said: ‘As a local charity seeking to improve the lives of Gosport borough residents, and with much of our work focused on supporting the health and wellbeing of older, vulnerable and disabled residents in particular, Gosport Voluntary Advice is pleased to be able to support the community through the addition of this critical device.

The defibrillator, which was purchased from the British Heart Foundation and is connected to the South Central Ambulance Service, was installed on August 31.

Val Kelly, CEO at Citizens Advice Gosport, said: ‘Gaining the funding for this equipment was very much a team effort and a great example of local community-driven organisations and elected leaders pulling together to bring about positive change for Gosport Borough residents.’

The British Heart Foundation estimates that more than 30,000 people suffer from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year, and that only one in ten people survive.

Both, Gosport Voluntary Action and Citizens Advice Gosport, are also active users of the app what3words, a system designed to identify your location, which can be used in an emergency to identify a person’s whereabouts.

Kay added: ‘One of our staff members was recently involved in an incident on their way home from work, which called for the use of what3words to quickly and accurately give their location to the emergency services. The subsequent response from the local emergency services meant that they were able to take over the situation, which resulted in a potentially fatal situation being averted.’