The whole community has come today to see a long awaited defibrillator installed for Smith Street. Warwick, after 10 years and the combined efforts of many people.
Mayor Cllr Simon Pargeter was on hand to witness the formal handover at ‘The Museum of The Queen’s Royal Hussars’ in Priory Road, with Rotary President Rachel Hinton and Andy Milton curator of the museum. The defibrillator was donated by Warwick Rotary Club who topped up funds raised by the traders in Smith Street.
Maria Denney of the Golden Monkey Tea Room on Smith Street had raised about £1,200 before Covid from local people working with the First Responders. With many buildings in Smith Street being Listed local planners were unable to agree on a location. Traders are now delighted to see the project completed after a 10 years wait.
Andy Milton said he had approached the Town Clerk Jayne Topham earlier this year for help to acquire a defibrillator, mindful of the numbers of elderly veterans visiting the museum. He was put in touch with Jackie Crampton of the Rotary who knew of the funds collected by Smith Street traders. Laurie Day architect applied for planning approval and once received the club made up the difference, and acquired the cabinet, defib. and a Bleed kit. Adrian Barton of Linleigh Electrical installed it for no charge and it can now be used in an emergency by anyone in the community.
Warwickshire Hearts First responders have provided support in setting it up and will be providing training for local traders in its use. The defibrillator is however fully automated and anyone can use it without training, dial 999 for the entry code and the machine talks you through what to do.
President Rachel Hinton said that Rotarians are “People of Action” supporting the local community, and this is a great example where everyone came together to “Make a Difference”.
Mayor Simon Pargeter thanked the Rotary club and said the nearest defibrillator was a distance away and minutes count when someone has a heart attack. He would like to see many more around Warwick.
Andy Milton thanked everyone for their support, he said that this end of town certainly needed emergency equipment to hand, although he hopes it will never be needed.
Pictured are Warwick Mayor Cllr Simon Pargeter, Andy Milton curator, President Rachel Hinton, Jackie Crampton and Laurie Day of Warwick Rotary Club. Helen Scares and Wendy Brown of Warwickshire Hearts responders, and Smith Street shopkeepers Fran from Cloud Nine, Gina from Pillows and Porcelain, and Gigi from Happy Puccia also came over to welcome it.
Warwick Rotary Club already owns and manages a CPAD (Community Public Access defibrillator) outside Shire Hall, installed in 2012 and has donated this one to QRH for them to own and manage.
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