A NEW life-saving piece of equipment could be coming to Chard after the first steps were taken to installing a new defibrillator in the town centre.

A motion was made at the full town council meeting last week that “Chard Town Council considers purchasing a minimum of one defibrillator for emergency public use, and situated externally to the rear of the Guildhall”.

The motion was made by Cllr Dave Bulmer, the mayor of Chard.

A working group was set up at the meeting consisting of Cllr Bulmer, Cllr Cathie Morrison, Cllr Martin Carnell and Cllr Gary Shortland.

Cllr Carnell said: “As my day job is as a member of one of the emergency services, I am totally supportive of a defibrillator in the town.”

Cllr Steve Warwick added: “I have actually used one of these pieces of equipment and they are amazing. It talks you through the whole thing.

“My only concern is we have got defibrillators in the town but they are only in places that are closed after certain times.”

Cllr Morrison provided the council with an estimate for a private purchase of a defibrillator and a cabinet.

She said: “The cabinet will cost around £1,200. It will be £1,066 for the defibrillator.

“You need a code to open the case which you can only get from 999. The defibrillator will then talk you through it.”

The council also heard that if the equipment detects a pulse then it will not work, to stop people using it unnecessarily.

It is understood that there are defibrillators in the fire station, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, the doctors and the dentist and there is a defibrillator on the rapid response vehicle.

However, there is not one available to the public 24/7.

Following proposals to place the defibrillator in the foyer of the Guildhall, Cllr Jason Baker said: “If we are going to have it, it may as well be available 24 hours a day.”

Cllr Amanda Broom added: “I think this is a great proposal to look at putting a defibrillator in place, 24/7. The costs are normally borne via charitable donations, so perhaps a crowdfunding page can be set up.”

The working group is set to liaise with emergency services and first responders before reporting to the full town council.