As you make your way around town, whether it’s picking up some shopping, supporting local businesses, dropping your children to school or heading to work, would you know where the nearest defibrillator is, should an emergency arise?
As a rural county, and with increasing pressures on the emergency services, the concern surrounding ambulance wait times and access to emergency health care is a very real dilemma for many people in Cornwall. Public access defibrillators provide an extra layer of support for communities, in the event someone collapses in the street from cardiac arrest.
Front Line Emergency Equipment Trust (FLEET), based in Bodmin, raises money to provide equipment to emergency service vehicles and response teams in Cornwall. They also provide public access defibrillators in communities across the county, delivering a life-saving piece of equipment for public use. We met with FLEET team member Dan, who showed us just one of the defibrillators installed at The Lighthouse Electrical in Bodmin and explained a little more about how FLEET
operates in Cornish communities.
Started by ambulance staff in 1990 and run by Norman Trebilcock up until 2022, FLEET has spent more than 30 years raising money and installing modern equipment for emergency service teams, including ambulances, emergency response motorbikes and cars, search and rescue helicopters, fire engines, Coastguard teams, RNLI lifeboats, and Cornwall’s air ambulance.
“Norman Trebilcock lived and breathed FLEET,” Dan said. “He stepped down in 2022, but he was inspirational to the success of the charity. Since then, we have been trying to continue the fantastic work that Norman has done for so many years.”
As part of the charity’s fundraising efforts, Dan leads a team of runners in the London Marathon each year. He continued: “I grabbed the London Marathon because I’ve been running it myself since 2011, after being persuaded to do the event as a one-off. I got hooked on running and have done 32 marathons, with 2025 being my thirteenth London Marathon. I want to build a team of 26 for next year.
“Each runner raises £2,500 for FLEET, so we make in the region of £40,000 a time, which helps to pay for defibrillators and any other relevant projects.”
Public access defibrillators can mean the difference between life and death. According to FLEET, approximately 200 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrest every day in the UK, and less than 20 (8.6%) will survive. Defibrillators help raise survival rates significantly, which is why FLEET is determined to cover Cornwall in a network of public access defibrillators to save more lives.
If you spot someone in cardiac arrest, it’s important to act fast and use ‘the chain of survival’. Call 999 and ask for an ambulance, then begin CPR at a rate of 100 compressions a minute to one-third the depth of the chest.
If you are comfortable doing mouth-to-mouth, you can then do two rescue breaths for every 30 compressions, but if not hands-only CPR is fine. As soon as a defibrillator is available, switch it on.
There will be pads to stick to the patient’s bare chest. If the machine senses a shockable rhythm, it will charge and alert you to press the discharge button - make sure no one is touching the patient when
you do this. Follow the voice instructions and continue CPR, with the defibrillator determining whether to deliver another shock every two minutes, until the ambulance arrives.
This year, FLEET is focusing on a number of new projects to benefit Cornish communities, one being to supply every fire appliance in Cornwall with a dedicated medical response bag. The bags are exactly the same for each unit, meaning training and use can be consistent, regardless of which appliance the crews work on. They have been tested to ensure they are robust enough to deal with working in or around the fire ground at the scene of incidents. Another focus is on public access Bleed Control Kits - a project which is still in the early stages but hopes to address the very real challenges of the modern world, with an increased risk and incidence of knife crimes, and support to the more rural communities for agricultural or recreational accidents.
The ambition is to place these kits within each of the 270 FLEET public access defibrillator cabinets, but the team would also like to see them available in bars, clubs, taxis and other public places.
FLEET always welcomes support, so if you’re someone looking for a local cause to fundraise for, get in touch with the team to discuss your fundraising ideas. Email christian@fleet.org.uk. For more information about FLEET, visit fleet.org.uk
Defibrillators around Bodmin
Ron’s Electrical Shop, 43 Lower Bore Street, PL31 2JU. Available 24/7.
• Lighthouse Electricals, Church Square, PL31 2DP. Available 24/7.
• Berryfield Community Centre, Harmer Close, PL31 2EU. Available 24/7.
• Bunny Homes, 9A Callywith Gate Industrial Estate, PL31 2RQ. Available 24/7.
• Tamar Trading, Unit 13 Cooksland Industrial Estate, PL31 2QB. Available 24/7.
• Wovina, PL31 1ER. Available 24/7.
To see the map of defibrillator locations, visit www.defibfinder.uk
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