Community Defibrillator at The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe

The White Horse at Brancaster has purchased a defibrillator, for use by the community, which is housed in a secure coded box on an outside wall of the building. The equipment has been registered on a national database and to gain access it is essential in the first instance to dial 999 to obtain key code access – this also prompts the attendance of an ambulance. Once the defibrillator has been accessed, the machine gives the member of the public step-by-step instructions of what to do in an emergency if not trained.

There are trained members of staff at The White Horse and also trained people in the village, who may be available in normal working hours. There is a contact list on reception at The White Horse.

Suitable training has already taken place and staff from both The White Horse and The Jolly Sailors in Brancaster Staithe together with interested members of the local community, 20 people in all, attended a defibrillator training course instructed by CWA Training, Kings Lynn.

Katie Harman, receptionist at The White Horse said ‘The course helped build my confidence to use the defibrillator should the need arise. I learnt how to provide resuscitation and also use the defibrillator.

Andrew Barlow, Community Partnership Manager for East of England Ambulance Service is arranging a 4-hour training session in the village in October where anyone in the community can attend for training.  Please contact reception at The White Horse to show your interest and you will be invited to attend.

James Nye, Managing Director at The White Horse said ‘It is our pleasure to provide a defibrillator for community use should the need ever arise. It is an amazing piece of equipment that could be the difference in saving someone’s life, especially in our rural location.  The most important thing now is for us to spread the word so that everybody knows where the machine is and how to access it’.