THREE new life-saving devices are set to be launched in Chard very soon, with fundraising underway to help save more people in the town.

The news follows repeated efforts from town councillors, who had set aside £1,800 to bring vital defibrillators to the town centre.

The latest motion came from Councillor Jason Baker and was sparked by the sad death of a man after a heart attack in The Cerdic in February.

Clive Adams is one of the volunteers on the Chard Defib Group. He said: “Our aim is to provide the whole of Chard town centre and surrounding areas with life saving defibrillators.

“More than 3,600 people are resuscitated by ambulance staff every year in the South West because they suffer a pre-hospital cardiac arrest.

“For every minute that passes once in cardiac arrest, a person loses a further 10 per cent chance of survival, and with this dramatic loss in chance of survival, there is a need of a defibrillator every four to five minutes walk.

“Without doubt this availability would improve cardiac arrest survival rates throughout the South West.”

Clive and the defib group has already ordered three of the devices, with a fourth set to be in the post very soon.

He said they do have locations in mind for the defibrillators but need plans to be finalised before they are made public.

The group recently appeared at the Chard Easter Fayre to raise money and awareness, where members had a defibrillator on display and volunteers held a tombola.

Mr Adams added: “If there were more public access defibrillators, more people could get a life saving shock as quickly as possible, ahead of an ambulance, which would assist in giving them the best possible chance of survival.

“When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, the heart stops and blood is no longer being pumped around their body. The longer they go without emergency life-support, the harder it is to restart their heart.

“This is where you and your community, organisation or business could make a difference.”

Despite being set to bring four defibrillators to Chard, the group is fundraising to buy more and place as many as they can within the town to improve residents’ chances of survival.

For every £1,000 raise, Clive and his team can buy another defibrillator. For more information and to support their efforts to save lives, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/charddefibgroup.