Expired defibrillators spark Southern check

The cardiac defibrillator at West Worthing railway station

Another out of date defibrillator has been discovered at a railway station '“ but Southern has said it is control of the situation across the area.

The batteries in the defibrillator in Shoreham railway station expired in December, sparking concern among commuters.

This comes after readers spotted the defibrillator in Goring railway station had batteries that expired in October last year.

Southern operators Govia Thameslink Railway were contacted to ask if any other defibrillators in Worthing, Shoreham and Littlehampton were out of fate.

Chris and Jen, two of the Worthing Responders, sorting out the defibrillator at Goring railway station

In response, a spokesman said: “We are carrying out a check of this and all the existing machines while, at the same time, continuing with the programme we have with the Sussex Heart Charity, of installing new life-saving defibrillators at more than 60 additional stations.”

They said that the defibrillator in Littlehampton railway station was one of the machines being checked.

The West Worthing railway station defibrillator has in-date batteries which expire on March 28 next year.

In Worthing railway station, the device has batteries that go out of date on December 22 next year.

The Govia spokesman explained why the defibrillator in Shoreham station was out of date.

He said: “The defibrillator in question at Shoreham-by-Sea is an older machine which we believe may have been put up by a local charity or similar organisation which we are trying to trace through the ambulance service register.

“We had already put up a new defibrillator at the station but this was stolen then recovered and will soon be put back up again.”

After the initial story about the Goring railway station defibrillator, a Govia spokesman said the device would be replaced with one maintained by the British Heart Foundation. They said this would be carried out by mid-March.

But members of Worthing and District Community First Responders went to Goring railway station to replace the current defibrillator’s batteries in the meantime.

Posting on their Facebook page, they said: “After some of our group seeing this in the local news, we felt a month is a while for a defibrillator to be out of action at Goring train station.

“So with our stores we have been down and replaced the necessary parts to keep this and the defibrillator at Worthing train station back into working order as they could be needed at any time.”

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