Life-saving equipment installed outside Corby secondary school for use by community in medical emergencies

Residents of a Corby housing estate have been gifted vital life-saving equipment paid for by members of their community.

It is the first combined bleed control kit and an AED (automated external defibrillator) to be installed on the Oakley Vale estate and is located at the entrance to Brooke Weston Academy.

The cabinet can be accessed 24 hours a day and can be used in the event of a catastrophic bleed or cardiac arrest.

Co-ordinator of North Northants Community First Responders, Stacey Price, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to work closely with the local community to raise enough funds to install this cabinet on the Oakley Vale area.

"The area is growing so vastly with only the one AED currently installed on Busy Bees Nursery leaving a large area of Oakley Vale uncovered by an AED or bleed kit.

“Making bleed kits and AEDs available to the public in those first minutes of a life-threatening emergency situation before an ambulance arrives, can prove absolutely vital."

The AED for the new cabinet on Brooke Lodge in Coomb Road has been donated by North Northants Community First Responders using vital funds raised and donated within the Oakley Vale area, including funds from a First Aid Day held at Corby Primary Academy in March 2022. Pupils donated £1 to wear red for the day and the responder volunteers taught year groups first aid skills.

Chairman of the North Northants Community First Responder Charity and deputy co-ordinator, Paul Nelson, said: "The installation of this dual cabinet in Oakley Vale is a huge step forward in ensuring the everyone in our community have access to potentially life-saving equipment in their local area.

"Bleed control kits and AEDs provide the best chance of survival to the patient in those vital minutes before an ambulance crews arrival. We are going to continue to work extremely hard as a charity to see many more cabinets like this installed over the coming years to help save as many lives as possible.”

In adults, defibrillation within three to five minutes of collapse may produce survival rates as high as 70 per cent in the event of a cardiac arrest. In cases of catastrophic bleeding through incidents such as a stabbing, farming accidents, kitchen accidents, shooting or RTC, a patient can die in just five minutes.

Bleed control kits, contain a Tourniquet, haemostatic gauze, and a chest seal.

Members of the public access the contents by calling 999 – for a pin number and step-by-step guidance.

Principal of Brooke Weston Academy, Shaun Strydom said: “This is a great initiative which will support the community, and we are proud to be a part of this. Thank you to the North Northants Community First Responders for organising this and the community for raising the funds for this vitally important initiative.”

For the locations of cabinets in the North Northants area or for further training on equipment, contact North Northants Coordinators on [email protected].