A defibrillator has been installed at Belstone Village Hall to provide 24-hour access to vital emergency care for the community.

The driving force behind the application for a defibrillator was local resident and Belstone Village Hall committee member, Kevin Vogan.

Whilst attending a recent first course, he became concerned about the impact that ambulance response times would have on anyone suffering a cardiac arrest in the relatively remote moorland village.

Kevin’s own experience for suffering a heart attack back in 2019 had made him acutely aware of the need for heart problems to be treated promptly.

“I was visiting my daughter who lives in Surrey,” he recalled.

“I woke up at four o’clock in the morning with chest pains and a cold sweat. Luckily for me, my son- in- law was able to drive me to the local hospital which was only five minutes away.

“I was fortunate enough to be able to get treatment very quickly, but the experience really brought home to me how important it is in a rural area like Belstone that we’re prepared for this type of emergency.

“We have around 250 people living in the village which is a very popular starting point for walkers in the national park. So, it is very good to know that we have the defibrillator and that we can give people the greatest chance of survival if there is an emergency.”

There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year. The overall survival rate in the UK is less than one in ten. Early CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival.

The defibrillator was installed thanks to a partnership between Royal Mail and British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Employees at Royal Mail have been raising funds to enable communities across the UK to apply for a free lifesaving defibrillator.