Parish Cake Autumn 2017

Defibrillator
Saves a Life
feature
Quick thinking and easy access to
the right equipment saves a
Sissinghurst resident
FOR GEOFF Cunningham what should have been just
a stroll from the village pub to his home turned into a
night that changed his life for ever.
The 86-year-old was not far from his home in Hop
Pocket Close, Sissinghurst, when he suddenly collapsed
in The Street and could easily have died had it not been
for quick-thinking people.
One in particular, John Smith, a parish councillor
for the village, used the defibrillator, mounted on the
outside of the nearby St George’s Institute, to try to
revive the unconscious Mr Cunningham.
Soon, first responder medics, Georgie Watford and
Sarah Crouch, under team leader Andy Parks, were
on the scene. With the help of the defibrillator, they
treated him before he was rushed to hospital where he
stayed for a month and was fitted with a pacemaker.
Mr Cunningham said: “I can’t remember anything
about my collapsing. It was really fortunate that it
happened in the street because my wife was out. If I
had collapsed at home I wouldn’t be here now.”
In July, Mr Cunningham had a chance to meet his
first responders at a defibrillator awareness evening at
the village primary school.
He said to them: “Thank you all for giving me a new
lease of life.”
During the evening villagers were given the chance
to learn how to use a defibrillator and also CPR to
save someone’s life. They learned that a heart attack
ABOVE: The responder
medics team with
Geoff Cunningham
is different from a cardiac arrest and the machine will
not save someone who has had a stroke. Training is not
necessary to use a defibrillator as the machine gives
clear and concise verbal instructions on how to use it.
The earlier a defibrillator can be used the greater the
chance of saving someone.
As Mr Parks said: “You won’t kill people using a
defibrillator, you will only save them.” Trisha Fermor
DEFIBRILLATOR LOCATIONS
There are four defibrillators in Sissinghurst but the only one which is
available 24 hours a day is outside St. George’s institute. The others can be
found at the cricket club, tennis club and the Milk House pub.
In Cranbrook, one is situated at the George Hotel, the other on the
outside of Cranbrook Fire Station at the top of the High Street – available
24 hours a day.
FENCING • GROUNDWORK
FORESTRY • FARMING
Call Stuart Mason on 01580 212198 or 07710 180381
stuart_mason19@btinternet.com
Parish Cake • Autumn 2017 29