Delight as new defibrillator installed at Stenhousemuir Primary for benefit of the community

The life-saving equipment can now be found on the outside of the school building, to the left of the main entrance.

The school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) decided to look into having a defibrillator on site following a conversation with the headteacher and others about the benefit such an item could have for the school and the wider community.

Cheryl Hogarth, treasurer for the PTA, explained: “We had been talking about getting a defibrillator that could be used by the school and the community.

"We all know how important it is to have one close by should, god forbid, something happen.

"It was quite a few months ago we had decided to look into getting one for the school, but there’s hundreds of different ones out there so we were unsure of which would be best.

"I happened to come across FVFR on Facebook and reached out to them to ask how we would go about getting one and what one we should get.

"Martin has been fantastic and had said they could help us and donate one to the school.

"We agreed to install it outdoors so that the community can use it and it’s available 24/7.”

The defibrillator has now been installed thanks to Forth Valley First Responders (FVFR) – and is there should anyone need to use it.

Cheryl added: “Thanks to Martin and his team at FVFR for their incredible support in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our school community.

"They’ve been fantastic and without him we’d probably still be searching for which defibrillator we should install.

"Taking this step to secure such an essential piece of life-saving equipment is a significant milestone for us and we’re truly proud to have achieved it.”

Plans are now being made for FVFR to raise awareness and share information on CPR and defibrillators with the whole school community, and the PTA hope that in the new year they will be able to organise a fundraising event to give something back to enable more defibrillators to be installed across the region.

Martin Stuart, of FVFR, said: “It’s been a pleasure to help the school install the defibrillator.

“We continue to help place defibrillators in the community and help with familiarisation/awareness of CPR and the use of a defibrillator.

“Public Access Defibrillators are becoming more visible in the community and whilst it is good to know where they are, it’s not critical as if you have to call 999 for an ambulance, if one is close enough to your location the call handler will tell you where it is and if a locked cabinet they will give you the code.”

For those wanting to check their area look at www.Defibfinder.uk this will show the ten nearest to your location.

For anyone looking for help, advice or information about installing a defibrillator, contact Forth Valley First Responders by emailing [email protected]