Princes Risborough now has its first community defibrillator after it was officially opened last week.

Members of the Rural Community Defibrillator Project, MP David Lidington, Derek Flint, community liaison training officer at South Central Ambulance Service, Geoff Clark, a volunteer at Risborough First Responders and Ian Pearce from Wel Medical, gave speeches about the new project at the official launch at Princes Risborough Golf Club on Friday, February 20.

The new life saving equipment is situated near the door of the reception at the golf club in Lee Road. 

The Rural Community Defibrillator Project, which is set to become a charity, aims to provide ten of the life-saving equipment packs through community fundraising.

Councillor Carl Etholen, who is part of the newly launched project, said: “We’re trying to raise money to have ten defibrillators in Princes Risborough and the surrounding villages.

“There was a golfer here who sadly passed away which is why we wanted to put one at the golf club.

“We’re not going to be able to save everyone’s life, but it will help. The ambulance might take a while to get to a situation because of traffic or something, but if there is someone who can give CPR and a defibrillator, the person has a much better chance of survival.” 

Mark Tubb, the Managing Director of Princes Risborough Golf Club, which paid for the new defibrillator, said: “We’re working together to try and put defibrillators in Risborough and the villages around it. We’re quite a long way from the nearest ambulance centres; we’re at the edge of range. So if we can do anything to get help to people in need that are having a heart attack, we want to make sure we give everyone a fighting chance.”

If a person is having a heart attack and a defibrillator is nearby, someone can call the ambulance and the call handler will give them a code to open the defibrillator case. After switching the defibrillator on, it goes through a set of instructions and prompts to help save the person’s life.  

Geoff Clark told how being between two hospitals meant Princes Risborough was in a “black spot”.  

Ian Pearce the director of Wel Medical, the company that provided the IPAD AED defibrillators, demonstrated how to use it.

Mr Pearce, who suffered a heart attack eight years ago, said: “The most difficult thing for people to use this is to just have the gumption to get up and do something. If you’ve got that gumption you can’t go wrong.”

MP David Lidington said: “What we’re focused on is a project that has the capacity to make a real difference for good in the lives of local people.

“Many of us will know of friends or relatives, who have suffered a quite unexpected heart attack and we know that now more than ever, the doctors are saying to us, it’s those first minutes after a cardiac attack that are absolutely vital.

“It could determine whether they live or die and if they live, whether they will make a full recovery. It’s a profoundly beneficial project and if it works, it could serve as a model for other communities in Buckinghamshire and well beyond.” 

Derek Flint, from SCAS, also stressed the importance of defibrillators, by telling the audience that for every minute that somebody is in full cardiac arrest and nothing is being done, they lose 10 per cent chance of survival.

He said: “Princes Risborough is a flagship for us. There has been a whirlwind of support from the community and local business who have pulled together and raised fantastic amounts of money for defibrillators in the town.”

After the talk, the brand new defibrillator was officially opened by MP David Lidington and Doreen Tubb. 

Risboro’ Garage are also supporting the project, donating £5 from every MOT and service and £1 for every ‘like’ on their Facebook page.