A COUNCILLOR has called for more defibrillators to be made available – with a particular plea for rural areas where ambulance response times are longer.

Gloucestershire County Councillor for Dursley Steve Lydon has been asking parish and town councils in the area how they could support funding defibrillators.

He believes that rural areas are at risk, where ambulance services are not as good as larger towns and cities in the county.

He said: "Defibrillators really do make a difference in saving lives. When a heart attack strikes it’s vital to get help.

“Every minute that someone is in a cardiac rhythm (or ventricular fibrillation) and left without either defibrillation or CPR, there is a 10 per cent less chance of survival. So the minutes really do count.”

Mr Lydon also said that there was support from the South West Ambulance Service and British Heart Foundation to help with the installation and training of local people once a site and funding has been identified.

He continued: “I am also asking Gloucestershire County Council and Stroud District Council to reconsider supporting defibrillators, particularly in rural areas where access to ambulance services is not as good as in Cheltenham or Gloucester.

“It could make all the difference to whether someone survives or not.”

My Lydon said that defibrillators are easy to use and though training is helpful, it is not essential, due to simple instructions which can be hear upon opening the device.