LIFE-saving medical equipment is being distributed to rural areas across South Lakeland, Furness and Eden to reduce the number of cardiac-related deaths, writes Rebecca Smith.

Cumbria Ambulance Service has been awarded 135 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) by the British Heart Foundation after it was given £6 million worth of funding from the Big Lottery Fund.

Thirteen AEDs are to be located at public facilities ranging from shopping centres to swimming pools in areas where it is difficult for an ambulance to reach quickly.

Oxenholme Station; Hayes Garden Centre, Ambleside; and Berners Swimming Pool, Grange-over-sands, are some of the sites set to benefit from the new medical equipment, while the police and fire services will also receive the kit.

Staff will be trained in how to use the lightweight machine that delivers an electric shock to the patient and significantly increases their chances of survival.

The AED scheme was launched at a ceremony at Rheged on Wednesday, with the support of Cumbrian mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington.

Rheged's parent company, Westmorland Ltd, was one of the first organisations to receive AEDs and training on how to use them, and also has the machines at Tebay Motorway Services (north and southbound) and The Village Shop at Tebay.

David Webster - a paramedic from Grange-over-Sands, and the community defibrillation officer has chosen the sites because of the high concentration of people that pass through them each day.

Spokeswoman for Cumbria Ambulance Service Claudine Shacklock said that in Cumbria alone, there were 5,000 calls every year involving cardiac arrest with 70 per cent of these occurring outside hospital.

"The AEDs are more imperative in Cumbria due to difficulties with accessibility posed by its challenging geography," she said.

The chance of survival for a cardiovascular patient is reduced by 14 per cent every minute he or she is waiting for medical assistance.

TAKING HEART: Sir Chris Bonington (right) helps to launch the defibrillator programme at Rheged with, from left, David Webster, paramedic in charge of the Cumbria project; Andrew James, Rheged operations manager; and chief executive Sarah Dunning. (D5L023SB1)