Highfields School, Newark has bought a defibrillator to act as a community ‘lifeline’

School leaders said they wanted to offer a lifeline to students and residents with a new defibrillator for the community.

Highfield School, Newark, bought a £900 defibrillator which is now located in its car park, available for public use.

The medical equipment was bought from London Hearters and it was linked up to the National Defibrillator Network at the beginning of March.

The school paid for half of it and the other half was funded by money raised by The Friends and Family of Highfields.

“We wanted to be able to offer a lifeline for someone in cardiac arrest, whether that be one of our students or someone from our community,” said Anna Eason, the school’s admissions and marketing manager.

Pupils have taken part in a first aid training course, where the benefits of access to a defibrillator were explained. This led to the staff unanimously agreeing on the importance of having one close to the premises.

Anyone in th community can use it through a 999 call, during which they will be given a code to access it.

Anna added: “For every minute that someone’s in cardiac arrest without having a defibrillator used on them, their chance of survival decreases by 10%.

“By having access to a defibrillator, we are hoping to increase our community’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.”