An Angus rural community has pulled together for a heart-start machine to combat blue-light delays.
Residents in Glen Ogilvie near Glamis have taken delivery of their first defibrillator which will be available to anyone in the area.
A community association was formed to examine how residents can help themselves and save valuable time in an emergency until additional assistance arrives.
Hard-to-reach rural locations can traditionally increase ambulance waiting times which can also be affected by a number of factors, including demand patterns and weather conditions.
Alice McLeod, secretary of the Glen Ogilvie Residents Association, said: “We have always been conscious of the fact that between making a call to the emergency services and their arrival, it can take at least 20 minutes due to our rural location.
“In winter this can be considerably longer. For some time now we have been discussing ways to help ourselves until outside assistance arrives. Recently we formed our own community association to look at this.
“One of the first decisions of the management committee was to press ahead with the purchase of the defibrillator based on the willingness of residents to pledge their own money towards the project.
“For the purpose of commonality the defibrillator and protective case purchased are the same as the ones recently installed at Newtyle and Eassie Hall.
“Some members of our community have already attended training at Eassie Hall and, by choosing the same equipment, we feel strongly that this will prevent confusion and save valuable time in an emergency.”
An 0800 number is being set up which is being, funded a resident to access help from community members for anyone in the area who is in difficulty.
This means support and assistance can be provided until the emergency services arrive.
East Haven village near Carnoustie recently installed a defibrillator and village emergency telephone system (Vets) following mercy dash delays.
Under the Vets system a user dials 999 and then the Vets number which immediately rings out to 10 designated good samaritans in the village simultaneously.
When one of the designated individuals accepts the call the nine other phones stop ringing.
