A piece of life-saving equipment has been installed in Huddersfield’s Beaumont Park to deal with round-the-clock cardiac emergencies.

And one of the donors, Huddersfield Pennine Rotary Club, says it knows at first hand the vital importance of having a defibrillator readily to hand.

Rotarian Tony Dann, 72, who has suffered from heart problems since his 40s, is certain his life was extended by the use of one.

He said: “I have such confidence in and gratitude for the benefits of defibrillators and the people who administer them that I now keep one at home in case my wife needs to save my life.”

And he joked: “I just hope she is in a good mood if the time ever comes for her to use it.”

Since the late 1990s he had been treated for atrial fibrillation on seven occasions some resulting in minor heart attacks.

Life-saving defibrillator now in action in Beaumont Park

He urged anyone who thought they may have an out of rhythm heart to get it checked – not to wait for a heart attack.

The Beaumont Park installation is financed jointly by the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation who provided the machine and the Rotary Club which has provided a specialist cabinet enabling it to be fixed outside the Park Visitor Centre where it will be available 24 hours a day.

Without the sturdy cabinet, the machine had to be stored in the centre restricting its availability to the centre’s opening times.

A code is provided to open the cover after a caller has dialled 999.

Defibrillator map
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Defibrillators deliver a high energy shock intended to restore a more stable rhythm after a cardiac arrest.

Tony urged people to take an hour or two to attend a training course.

The Friends of Beaumont Park have already organised a series of courses.

Tony added: “You may well be the one to have the opportunity to save someone else’s life. The machine itself will talk you though each stage but it is as well to be well prepared as time is of the essence.”

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Roy Mason, chairman of the Friends of Beaumont Park said: “We are most grateful to the Rotary Club and the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation as we now have this vital piece of life-saving equipment permanently available.

“Because the park has an increasing number of visitors with large crowds at special events the machine is an important addition to our safety and welfare arrangements.”

The British Heart Foundation regards defibrillators as an essential life-saving step in the chain of survival and points to numerous occasions when they have saved lives.

Defibrillators are becoming an increasingly common feature of our lives with schools, community hubs and clubs across the country possessing them.