Winchester Dentist Launches New Scheme to Install Defibrillators in Dental Surgeries
A dentist from Winchester has joined forces with local medical officials to launch a new scheme to encourage as many dental practices as possible to install a defibrillator.
Nick Forster, from St James’ Dental Practice, has teamed up with five colleagues to launch NHS England Scheme for Community Defibrillator’s. With the aim of getting as many practices as possible to invest in the life-saving equipment.
Defibrillators cost around £1,000 but they have the power to save lives. An estimated 30,000 people in the UK have a heart attack every year and a defibrillator can make the difference between life and death. Currently, only around 18 per cent of people who have a heart attack survive, but this number could increase significantly if people have access to life-saving equipment. Dr Forster said that with immediate access to a defibrillator, up to 75 per cent of patients could be saved.
The scheme also aims to provide members of the public with useful information about calling 999 and what to do if somebody has had a heart attack. Under the scheme, the person who calls will be given the location of the nearest defibrillator to them and also a code to use the equipment; they will receive instruction from the call handler over the telephone until the paramedics arrive on the scene.
News of the scheme comes just days after a man was saved by staff members using a defibrillator after he suffered a heart attack in the waiting room of a dental practice near Manchester.
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