Orton's New Investment Could Save Lives

A life-saving device has been installed in a Staffordshire village thanks to Orton Group.

The community defibrillator bought by the team here at Orton will be available to the public during our office hours and could save lives if someone nearby goes into cardiac arrest. It is situated inside our building on Pool House Road, Wombourne, which is open between 8am – 5.30pm on weekdays.

Each day cardiac arrests cause the death of 250 people in the UK – more than lung or breast cancer – and the survival rate is just five per cent. However, if a defibrillator is used within three minutes, this rises to 70 per cent.

Orton’s Managing Director, Andrew Lowe, said: “Every second counts when someone goes into cardiac arrest, which is when the heart stops beating properly due to a problem with its electrical system.

“The heart only remains in a ‘shockable rhythm’ for a few minutes and that’s why having a defibrillator nearby is vital to increase the chances of saving their life.”

The defibrillator is a LifePack CR Plus Fully Automated AED, which means any person using it can simply attach the pads as directed by the voice prompts.

“When we decided to get a defibrillator, we felt very strongly it should not only be available for our staff and visitors, but to the whole community too – anyone can have a cardiac arrest, it doesn’t matter what your age or fitness level is.

“The thought that each day 250 families start their morning completely normal and by that night will be dealing with the shock and grief of the death of their loved one is a horrifying one, and we want to try and reduce the likelihood of that happening to families here in Wombourne.”

There is a second public-access defibrillator located in Active Fitness Club which is available from 6am to 9.30pm weekdays (until 8pm Fridays) and 8am-3pm at weekends, as well as one at the butchery on Windmill Bank.

Automated external defibrillators are designed so anyone can use them, even without training, and are the only effective treatment for cardiac arrest. Administering CPR will help keep blood and oxygen circulating to the person’s brain, but only a defibrillator will shock the heart back into its normal rhythm.

Devices will not administer a shock if the person isn’t in cardiac arrest, so they cannot be used incorrectly.