Publication Date: 09-09-2024 09:00
Charity installs defibrillator on new housing development in Hartlepool
A charity has linked up with the council and a local developer to provide a defibrillator for a new housing development in Hartlepool.
DS43 Community Defibrillators paid for the equipment and installation of the potentially life-saving device to make it available to residents and visitors to Bellway Durham’s Hartwell Park should someone suffer a cardiac arrest.
As roads on the development have yet to be adopted by the local authority, the charity had to seek Bellway’s permission to install both the defibrillator itself and a mini lamp post onto which the device could be fixed.
Once the housebuilder had given its blessing, Hartlepool Borough Council erected the mini lamp post, enabling the defibrillator to be installed on Friday 2 August and become active on Monday 5 August.
DS43 Community Defibrillators was originally a community group formed following the death of 43-year-old Hartlepool man Danny Shurmer from a sudden cardiac arrest in 2021. The organisation was set up in his memory by his parents Bill and Pam Shurmer, along with David Cairns, a Medical Engineer and Local Community First Responder with the North East Ambulance Service who went to Danny’s aid.
Initially, the group wanted to raise money for three defibrillators around the estate where Danny lived and reached their funding target within three weeks. The group, which became a registered charity in 2022, then set themselves the challenge of ensuring that, where possible, everyone in the town is within a 350-metre radius of a public access defibrillator.
Bill Shurmer said: “Positioning public access defibrillators in areas which don’t have a suitable building to house them on has presented challenges, none more so than on new developments. We are delighted that Bellway Durham is one of a number of developers to engage with us, allowing a growing number of residents on this new-build site access to a defibrillator and we hope more local housebuilders follow suit.
“Without the support we receive from so many people we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. So far, 73 public access defibrillators have been installed across Hartlepool by our charity. A number of local developers are now engaging with us but we need more to link up with us.
“We would like to see a defibrillator on every new-build site in Hartlepool. Well done and thank you to Bellway for working with us to ensure the residents at Hartwell Park now have a public access defibrillator available to them.”
All 73 defibrillators, including the one at Hartwell Park, are registered with ‘The Circuit’, which is the British Heart Foundation’s national network that ensures they are all visible to the Ambulance Service and can be deployed by them.
In the instance of cardiac arrest, start CPR and call 999. The call handler will direct the caller to the nearest available defibrillator and give the code to access the device.
Hayley Teasdale, Sales Manager at Bellway Durham, said: “When Bill from DS43 approached us to ask for permission to have a mini lamp post and defibrillator installed at Hartwell Park we had no hesitation in saying yes.
“It is greatly reassuring to know that this potentially life-saving piece of equipment is permanently positioned in Rotary Way, so that if it is ever needed to help save someone who has had a cardiac arrest then it is easily accessible and ready to use.”
For more details about DS43 Community Defibrillators, visit https://ds43communitydefibrillators.org.uk.
Bellway Durham is building 370 new homes at Hartwell Park. To find out more about the development, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/durham/hartwell-park or call 01429 411778.
