New defibrillator unveiled on major road near Horsham

The Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) is at Roundstone Caravans on Worthing Road in Southwater.

The purchase was funded by the Southwater Community First Responders with Roundstone Caravans fitting the device and providing power. On Saturday August 21 the unit was officially unveiled.

At the event were Roundstone Park residents Molly, David and Roger, Neil Blanch (Roundstone Parks Director), Rosie Kent (Roundstone Managing Director), Southwater CFR Michael Durrant, Councillor Claire Vickers (Health and Wellbeing cabinet member Horsham District Council) and Southwater CFR Trustees Pauline Flores-Moore, Nancy Brook and Peter Buckley.

Councillor Vickers said: “I am really pleased that we now have access to this new defibrillator in Southwater.

“A speedy response with the right equipment to hand is often critical in emergency situations, so it is good that we now have another defibrillator located in Roundstone Caravan Park just in case it should be needed.”

The recent events at Euro 2020 where Danish footballer Christian Eriksen received CPR and defibrillation on the pitch have shown how life changing these devices can be. Park resident Molly added: “It’s reassuring to know the PAD is available should we need to use it”.

Southwater Community Responders recently ran an awareness session for Roundstone staff on the device and how to provide CPR. There are plans to make sure that residents are also aware of its use and how to access it. The defibrillator can be found in a bright yellow cabinet behind the main workshop to the left of the rear entrance.

This brings the total number of PADs in the village to nine with several more planned over the coming months.

Southwater Community Responders is charity and largely self-funded by donations from the local community.

A spokesman for the group thanked all the Southwater residents that have supported them and Roundstone caravans for providing site.

To access any of the defibrillators call 999 and ask for the ambulance service, he added.

The spokesman said: “They will be able to advise you of the access code to open the cabinet and support you with the use of the device if needed. These devices are all semi-automatic and simple to use. They give verbal and written instructions and will not shock a patient if the patient does not need shocking.”

A map of all the Public Access Defibrators in the village can be found on the Southwater Community Responders website at https://www.southwaterresponders.org/