Three new life-saving defibrillators have been unveiled in Brean this week following a successful fundraising campaign.
The new units are located at Beachside Holiday Park and Brean Village Hall in the village.
A total of £3,341 was raised through the Brean Seasonal Caravaners Facebook group, with members donating online and attending a fundraising event.
Speaking to Burnham-On-Sea.com, BSC spokesman Martin Mills said: “The initiative stemmed from a fellow member, Paul Turner, suffering cardiac arrest last year. Fortunately he survived, but it brought the realities home to us.”
“The nearest full time A&E departments are Bristol or Taunton. Survival rates for Cardiac Arrest dramatically decrease with every passing minute that a defib isn’t available.”
“We were surprised to learn that Brean only had one public access machine, located at Diamond Farm. It seemed an obvious focus for our fundraising efforts.”
“The support and feedback from our members has been fantastic, many have said they feel much more reassured by the presence of these units.”
Martin added that the money raised had secured two defibs, with a third unit donated which has been retained as a short term ‘loan unit’ to cover any out of action units in the village.
“The support of local businesses has also been great. The team at Beachside have offered to host our defib experience day — a chance for members to get some hands-on experience of defibs. Jon Harris of Warren Farm assisted in arranging it at the Village Hall.”
“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this and we hope to repeat it to provide another two units next year.”
