AN award-winning farm shop has installed a defibrillator after raising £2,000 to purchase the life-saving equipment.

Rumwell Farm Shop, located on the A38 between Taunton and Wellington, now plays host to a Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) defibrillator

Charlotte Humber, supporter engagement officer for Somerset from DSAA, said: “It’s wonderful that Rumwell Farm Shop now has one of our defibrillators onsite.

“Whether it’s by air or in one of our outreach cars, our doctors and specialist practitioners in critical care bring hospital-level care to the scene of the most serious incidents in Dorset and Somerset.

“However, despite the extraordinary medical treatments our crew provide, anyone suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest needs help from the community around them if they are to stand a chance of surviving.

“As part of the chain of survival, CPR and defibrillation before an ambulance arrives can double a patient’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.

“To reduce avoidable deaths in the communities that we serve, our goal for anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest is to receive immediate CPR and then defibrillation as quickly as possible. Each one-minute delay decreases their survival chances by another 10 percent, so defibrillators need to be close by, be publicly available and used when time is critical.

“This is why Rumwell Farm Shop’s support means so much to all of us here at DSAA; we want to give everyone the best chance, on their worst day, and by putting up a public defibrillator, Rumwell Farm Shop is giving everyone around it that best chance, thank you!”

DSAA, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is predominantly funded by donations from the general public, provides lifesaving, pre-hospital critical care, to patients in need.

Its team of highly skilled pilots, critical care practitioners, nurses, and doctors are operational for 19 hours a day, 365 days a year; together they work tirelessly to save lives in the area.

Anne Mitchell, partner at Rumwell Farm Shop, said: “After working with our Charity of the Year, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance for six months now, we have learnt how important it is to have a defibrillator onsite. It could help save the life of a customer or team member and is an essential piece of kit.

“We have invested nearly £2,000 to get it, have it installed and operational so it can be used as needed in an emergency by anyone onsite. We also now have team members onsite who are fully trained in CPR thanks to the charity’s help.

“This will help support the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance crews both in the helicopter and the critical care cars on the road, so they can attend to the most critically ill and injured patients in the region.

“We’re so pleased we can support them and our Rumwell community in this way. Not only are we fundraising for the charity this year, but we’re also helping raise awareness of all it does, and this is also another positive and useful way to do this.”