Ledbury councillor says the area needs improved emergency service cover to prevent more tragedies after the death of a local man from a heart attack earlier this month.
Councillor Peter Watts is calling for a swifter response to emergencies following the death of Alfred Parry, who died at his home on Monday, August 4, despite being just yards away from potentially life-saving equipment.
His family and friends were unable to save the 81-year-old as they waited 17 minutes for an ambulance to arrive from Bromyard.
Tragically they were not aware of the availability of a defibrillator at Ledbury Leisure Pool just a short distance away from his home at Lawnside Road.
Now Ledbury councillor Peter Watts is calling for better cover from the emergency services and more Community First Responders (CSRs) – teams of volunteers who are trained by the Ambulance Service to provide life-saving treatment to people in their local communities.
“I would like to see an improved service, especially in Ledbury,” said Councillor Watts. “The answer is getting more people up to speed and also more First Responders. If we are going to have 18,000 more houses in Herefordshire we need more emergency cover.”
Since the tragedy Councillor Watts has met with officials from Halo Leisure, the organisation that runs local swimming pools and leisure centres, to discuss the use of life-saving equipment at off-site emergencies.
Chief executive of Halo Leisure, Jon Argent, said: “Halo would be happy to ensure locations where they have defibrillators are notified to the appropriate organisations for inclusion on their database, and they would certainly make them available to trained personnel only for their use outside of our various centres.
“However, we would not be able to allow our staff to attend medical emergencies outside our facilities for insurance and other reasons.”
Councillor Watts said: “This is a big step in the right direction and I was im-pressed by the speed of the decision by Halo. This is a decision which would benefit the whole community and Herefordshire if another medical emergency ever arose.”