Additional Defibrillator Donated to Hailsham Residents

A new Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) is to be installed outside the James West Community Centre, which will be available for emergency use, 24/7 for local residents.

The new defibrillator, kindly donated to the town by local recycling and waste management company Haulaway Ltd, will add to the publicly accessible defibrillators already installed in the town in recent years by the Town Council.

Currently, Town Council-funded and maintained defibrillators are located outside Hailsham Library in Western Road, the police station in George Street, Hailsham East Community Centre in Vega Close, the NHS Surgery in Vicarage Field and Chandler’s BMW in Diplocks Way.

The forthcoming installation of an additional defibrillator, of which Haulaway has also kindly donated the cabinet housing the defibrillator, is a welcome boost in the campaign by the Town Council to make life-saving PAD units available outside key buildings across the town.

Day-to-day maintenance of the PAD units – which are locked in cabinets and accessed by obtaining a code by calling 999 – is carried out by the Town Council.

“We are so proud to be able to donate this defibrillator to the town and assist with the Town Council’s campaign of providing the people of Hailsham with lifesaving apparatus,” said Lisa Holloway of Haulaway. “It is so important to us to mark our 30 years of trading by giving something back to the community.”

Town Mayor Cllr Paul Holbrook said: “We are pleased to have received this additional defibrillator unit, kindly donated by Haulaway, which, whilst we hope it is never needed, could potentially save lives. A huge thank you to Haulaway for their generous donation in providing such an important piece of equipment to our town.”

Town Clerk John Harrison commented: “Having quick access to a Public Access Defibrillator unit means that immediate life-saving care can be provided during emergency situations such as cardiac arrest, in the vital minutes before the ambulance arrives.”

“The defibrillator scheme carried out by the Town Council has already been a success all round, by improving community resilience – making life-saving equipment available to the public – and allowing the Town Council to contribute to the well-being of the local community.”