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Henfield Area Response Team
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Henfield, West Sussex, England |
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The Henfield Area Response Team or HART was set up in January 2004 as a project to tackle the problem of sudden death, in the Henfield community. HART, as an independent charity, supports the Sussex Ambulance Service in providing local voluntary trained responders for emergency calls in Henfield that are life-threatening or potentially life-threatening such as sudden death, chest pain, unconsciousness, drowning other medical or trauma related emergencies. The responders attend 999 calls at the request of the ambulance service and provide care prior to the arrival of the ambulance. These responders have the training to use equipment such as defibrillators that can restart a heart before the brain is irreversibly damaged. The response time is therefore reduced from 20 minutes to hopefully less than 5. HART has absolutely no running costs. It has 6 qualified responders to date who are unpaid and provide their time, training, and travel costs free. Each defibrillator and kit costs nearly £2000. We have enough for all our responders at present but plan for Henfield to have 4 more members by Christmas in an attempt provide a near 24 hour cover, 365 days of the year. Additionally, in January 2005 we intend to locate 5 additional automated defibrillators (AEDs) around Henfield High Street (in shops and other establishments) for use by the Henfield public, a scheme known as P.A.D short for Public Access Defibrillators (PAD). This will be supported by classes in the village to educate the community in their use and for training in CPR. Public Access Defibrillators (PAD) is a relatively new development around the world to combat the enormous death toll from sudden cardiac death – the most common cause of sudden death. There are 142 AED’s for public use in Heathrow and Gatwick The estimated initial cost of defibrillators, medical equipment, and training items will be around £12,000. We would be grateful for any support you can give. David Fletcher Paramedic / Coordinator
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To Make a Donation to HART Click Below |
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For more information click here
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