Lenham villagers buy public defibrillator heart machine

A defibrillator delivers an electric shock to restore a person's heart rhythm after a cardiac arrest

A Kent social club has been fundraising to buy a defibrillator for use by all villagers.

Lenham Social Club decided to buy the machine used to treat cardiac arrests after one of its members died at an event.

A medical training company is holding an event to show as many people as possible how to operate the machine.

Medi-1 has also said it would make up any shortfall from the fundraising to enable the club to buy the equipment.

The defibrillator costs about £1,300, and the villagers have so far raised about £1,000.

Defibrillators can deliver an electric shock to the chest to restore a person's heart to a normal rhythm after a cardiac arrest.

'Easy to use'

The defibrillator will be installed on the outside of the Dog and Bear pub in the village.

Callers to the emergency services will be given the code to access the defibrillator which is in an alarmed casing.

Paul Stanbridge, director of Medi-1, said: "We are raising awareness so people won't be scared of using the equipment," he said.

He added the equipment was easy to use and was one of the first of its kind in Kent.

The organisers of Saturday's event in Lenham said they expected more than 100 people to attend for free training on the equipment.

In May, former Premier League footballer, Fabrice Muamba, who had a cardiac arrest on the pitch launched a campaign to get more life-saving equipment into public places.

His heart was restarted with a defibrillator.