CHANGES are set to be made to allow quick access to potentially life-saving heart defibrillators after an emergency in Kingsley.
On June 30, Kath Jones, 78, collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest near her Kingsley home as she was due to go on a shopping trip with her daughter.
Fellow Kingsley residents rushed to the nearest defibrillator – located on the wall of Kingsley Village Hall. But they were unable to obtain an access code from West Midlands Ambulance Service to open the box.
Others then tried to access another defibrillator located at the Blacksmith’s Arms in Kingsley Holt, but were also unable to do so.
Now following an investigation changes are set to be made to allow easier access to the equipment.
Last week’s meeting of Kingsley Parish Council heard an investigation has revealed that once a 999 call is made it activates the nearest defibrillator location to the call taker who then has the code immediately. However the system only works if the defibrillator is located within 200 metres of where the call is made.
On this occasion the call was made 50 metres outside the 200 metre zone and the call handler then had to use a manual system to obtain the code number which took much longer.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said they had an ambulance on scene in eight minutes. Speaking at last week’s parish council meeting, Councillor Martyn Hordern, said: “The daughter made the 999 call and the son went to the village hall for the defibrillator. In a frustrating phone call the code could not be found to unlock the cabinet, so eventually it was prised open.
“The defibrillator was then taken back to the scene, but the ambulance was then in attendance, but sadly nothing could be done to save the patient. There was also a problem getting the code from another defibrillator at the Blacksmith pub in Kingsley Holt.
“Now the ambulance service is looking to extend the activation zone to 500 metres and we are also looking at keeping the cabinets unlocked so people have instance access to the equipment.
“I thought that people gave the box number and that the post code should not have been relevant. At the time we were fundraising there was not mention of an activation radius.”
West Midlands Ambulance Service response manager, Matt Heward, was also at the parish council meeting.
He said: “Defibrillators are activated thousands of times in communities. On this occasion the call taker did not know the area and had to manually look for a code as the call was outside the 200 metre zone of the defibrillator cabinet.
“We are now looking to take the activation point to 500 metres.
We could also offer the community another defibrillator to put in another location within the village.
Chairman of the parish council, Ivor Lucas, said he was with the patient on the night. He said: “People were continually asked for the post code which was not on the cabinet where the defibrillator is stored. I just hope it never goes wrong again if it is needed.”
