Sponsors needed for life-saving kit

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Medics at Kent Air Ambulance have issued a public appeal to local firms to help fund a life-saving kit for heart attack victims.

 

Energy giant E.ON kindly donated two defibrillators which were used at its Isle of Grain plant.

 

Kent Air Ambulance wants to install one in the reception area of the charity’s Marden headquarters.

 

The machine would be widely used by staff and other workers on the Wheelbarrow Park estate in the event of a medical emergency.

 

But the defibrillator, which is used to re-start the heart following a cardiac arrest, needs two new batteries which cost about £120 each.

 

Clinical manager Rob Wilkinson appealed for local companies to sponsor the defibrillator.

 

He said: “They are so simple to use that literally anyone with minimal training can use them. We have similar units on the helicopter which we use on 999 call-outs.

 

“The idea is that if someone suffered a heart attack at or near the base while we were out someone in the office could use the defibrillator and give them first aid.”

 

E.ON has previously donated two defibrillators, worth about £2,500 each, which are used on the charity’s rapid response vehicles.

 

One was used to save an elderly motorist who suffered a heart attack at the wheel in East Farleigh near Maidstone. Rob was passing the scene of the accident at the time.

 

E.ON has pledged more than £24,000 to the £1.7m-a-year cost of keeping the helicopter airborne.

 

If you would like to fund the cost of replacing the batteries, please call senior fundraiser Lynn Hyder on 07884 338317 or 01622 833833.