During the Demonstration on 21 March, the trainer (Paul) mentioned that if you need to contact the emergency services from somewhere where there is a poor mobile phone signal (for example you are walking in the Woodford Valley), you can send a text message that the mobile networks can more easily pick up than a call as less data is used in an SMS message than for a phone call.
MORE DETAILS: So that your call is recorgnised as genuine, you can pre-register your phone by texting REGISTER to 999. You will receive a reply giving details of the Ts & Cs and if you agree with them, reply YES and await further confirmation of registration of your phone. More information here.
Hopefully this will never be needed but who knows? Regular walkers have set up their phones for just this eventuality. IF you should need to send an Emergency Text Message to contact the Emergency Services, you will need to give the following basic infiormation:
What3Words is recorgnised by the Emergency Services as a location describer and works on smart phones even when there is no internet connection. To see how this works, click the link to the What3Words website, then click the location finder icon on the bottom right of your screen.
During the training session there was an opportunity for a volunteer to practise CPR on a dummy. Given the scenario that either CPR or the use of the defibrillator has been effective, Paul then demonstrated how to put a casualty in the 'recovery position'.
The overall message of the seminar was - Call 999 to contact the Emergency Services and whilst awaiting their attendance, don't hesitate to implement CPR or use the defibrillator. Doing something is better than doing nothing.
Original News story 19 February - NB This event has now taken place.
Following fundraising organised by Liz Waterman, a defibrillator was installed on the outside wall of the Reading Room in September 2018, Many residents attended a talk to hear about the part defibrillators can play in saving lives - with an opportunity to get hand-on experience of CPR.
Now, some 5 years' later, a seminar to refresh existing knowledge (and to include newcomers to Stratford who may not have had the opportunity to see a defibrillator being demonstrated), has been arranged for Thursday 21 March in the Reading Room at 7 pm.
There is no need to book and everyone is welcome. There is no charge to attend but donations to cover costs would be welcomed. More details in the poster below.
There is more information about maintenance arrangements for the Stratford defibrillator and how to use it on this webpage.