A charity is asking communities to check their lifesaving equipment after a Bride resident found their village defibrillator was out of order.
The woman said she discovered the device had not been maintained when they went to use it in the early hours of the morning.
Paul Healey, chairman of Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, said: “As a Charity we have donated more than 600 life saving defibrillator machines to various offices, clubs and communities around our wonderful Island.
“The donation of these machines means that the responsibility of the upkeep, testing and maintenance of them is left with the guardian or owner.”
Advise
Paul confirmed the charity’s role is advisory, stating: “We will do everything we can to help or advise these owners on how to do this whenever we are approached.
“This is communicated at the time that the defibrillator is donated.”
He highlighted the critical need for regular checks, adding: “The importance of checking the machine has been highlighted once more when a machine known to a community could not be relied on as the Ambulance Service were informed that it had no battery.”
Paul urged all guardians to register their equipment, saying: “If your machine is registered you will receive emails from Manx Care to warn you that your pads and batteries are nearing expiry, weeks in advance.
“Please take this opportunity to check your machine so an incident like this does not happen again.
“We are grateful that the person involved is ok but this could have had a very different outcome.”
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