Life Saving Shocks at Bridgend Railway Station

Vital life saving equipment for heart attack victims in Bridgend has been made available thanks to Welsh Assembly money.

The Assembly’s £140,000 fund for new public access defibrillation machines will help save the life of anyone suffering from a heart attack in busy shopping centres and rail stations across Wales.

Defibrillators deliver controlled electric shocks and the sooner the shock the greater the chance of survival. The Welsh Ambulance Service was given the Assembly money to train staff at Bridgend Railway Station to use the defibrillators and in basic life support.

Heart disease is one of Wales’ and Bridgend’s biggest killers. Around 8,000 people in Wales die each year from coronary heart disease.

Tackling this problem is one of the Labour Assembly Government’s top priorities and the new defibrillators at Bridgend Railway Station can save lives on the spot.

Research shows that when a shock can be given within five minutes of someone collapsing over a quarter of patients survive.

280 people have been trained at 22 sites across Wales and by the end of the programme Wales’ busiest public locations will be prepared to offer life saving equipment.