The AED Project was started in 2014 our aim being to provide three Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for Buckingham town itself and to recruit three Community First Responders (CFRs).
Geoff Shaw was the instigator and the driver for this charity in the early days and encouraged as many people as possible to be involved. The group has grown considerably since this time and continues to invest in helping people gain the skills and confidence to potentially save someone’s life in an emergency.
We provide public awareness sessions that demonstrate Basic Life support (CPR) and Defibrillator awareness. Monies raised at our fundraising events plus kind donations to the charity enable us to procure and install Public Access Defibrillators (known as AEDs) for our community.
We are proud to say that the charity has managed to raise these figures to over twenty-eight public accessible defibrillators across Buckingham and the surrounding villages.
With the sad passing of Geoff in 2019, the committee has continued to work with the community in raising funds to maintain the current AEDs and also plan for potential placement of further AEDs if required.
According to British Heart Foundation (BHF) only 7-8% of people, in whom resuscitation is attempted, survive to hospital discharge. This can be significantly increased by the early use of CPR and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) either by members of the public or the emergency services.
The ‘Chain of Survival’, early bystander recognition, prompt call for help, CPR and early defibrillation dramatically increases the chances of survival. With CPR and Defibrillation commencing in under 5 minutes a victim’s chance of survival increases to 50-70%
The current 28 public access AEDs in Buckingham & local villages are available 24/7.
The latest additions in Buckingham can be found at:
Buccas Lane, St Rumbolds Field and Birch Lane, off Osier Way. These latest installations follow our policy of providing AEDs for all new large residential housing developments.
As public awareness increases more people can now identify the locations of their nearest AED.
The charity continually seeks to find ways to explain to people what we are doing – hosting very successful awareness sessions at local community village halls as well as delivering these awareness sessions in various other settings including Bourton Park and at Tesco. The “Restart a Heart” campaign supported by the Resuscitation Council UK is an annual awareness campaign that we also support, with assistance from our local Fire service and Tesco.
Working with other local charities e.g. Rotary, Masons, and of course South Central Ambulance service helps to raise funds and increases awareness of AED locations.
Our Social media presence continues to develop – check our site for latest news.