Nationwide given the go-ahead to install bleed kit and defibrillator outside Rushden High Street branch
Plans have been approved for a new bleed kit cabinet and defibrillator outside Nationwide in Rushden High Street, providing life-saving equipment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The installation is part of an initiative to install live-saving apparatus on all 605 of the bank’s UK branches by the end of the year.
Plans for the kit on the wall outside the Rushden branch at 83 High Street were approved by North Northants Council on July 22.
A planning document reads: “Nationwide Building Society are committed to supporting the communities they serve, with branches located at the centre of high streets across the UK.
"As part of this commitment to community well-being, they aim to install life-saving equipment to some of their branches to ensure people have rapid, 24/7 access to vital emergency equipment whenever it is needed.”
The life-saving equipment will be housed in its own dedicated, secure external cabinet in a prominent location on the wall of the branch by St John’s Ambulance, who will provide the cabinets that can be used by passers-by during an emergency.
Cabinets, which will be made of tough polyethylene, are highly resistant to corrosion and impact, can be removed if they become redundant over time and will be available 24/7.
St John Ambulance chief medical officer, Professor Andrew Hartle, said: "We’re so pleased to work with Nationwide and Visa on this project, which so perfectly meets St John Ambulance’s mission to put the power of first aid into everyone’s hands.
"With hundreds more public access defibrillators and bleed control kits across the UK, and thousands more people confident to use them, I am confident many more lives will be saved in our communities."
Rushden Town Council and Environmental Health had no objections to the plans, which can be found online here.