A HEALTH centre in Sale have opened their defibrillator for public use.

Staff at Firsway Health Centre completed their regular CPR training earlier this year and were shocked to hear statistics about available defibs in the area.

They said that in the event of a person having a cardiac arrest without a defib available in the near vicinity, their chances of survival are slim to none- they found there was just one in Ashton Village.

Tara Clements, Patient Services Manager said: “Firsway Health Centre have a Patient Participation Group (PPG) who meet quarterly and discuss matters within the practice that they can help with. It wasn’t long after our CPR Training that the PPG had a meeting and this subject was brought up.

“The Practice had agreed that we would be willing to make our Defib available for public use, however this would require putting a special locked, heated cabinet outside.

“The cabinet we required cost over £500 so the PPG started looking into ways we could raise money for this.”

Members approached Sainsbury’s and Cohen’s Pharmacy who both agreed to donated £250 each towards the community project for the outdoor cabinet.

Tara said: “I am pleased to say that our Defib is now available for public use and in the event of an emergency the ambulance service will direct the public on how to access and use the device.

“Having 24 hour access to this device will no doubt be an advantage and could potentially save lives in the future.”

"We would like to thank the Doctors at Firsway for making this available to the public, to the PPG for finding a way of raising the money and to Sainsbury’s and Cohen’s for their donations to make this possible."

Earlier in November, the practice manager, Paula Lea received Practice Manager of the Year award by The Royal College of General Practitioners in the North West faculty. She received the award in recognition of her dedication and hard work to Firsway and her leadership skills when turning around a practice that had once been struggling into one that is now flourishing - the practice has received “good “CQC recognition. Paula also set up “Tea with GP” where the practice will host a Tea Party for the elderly every three months.

Paula said: "I accept this award on behalf of the practice. My job would not be possible if it wasn’t for the great team I have working with me."