Life-saving defibrillator installed outside Sunderland church

A defibrillator has been installed outside a church in the centre of Thorney Close in a bid to save more lives.

The AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) now hangs on the wall outside the Bethel Church on Thorndale Road, a few yards up from the former Thorney Close Inn.

Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Edgeworth, whose Sandhill ward includes the church, says the new defibrillator is part of a project between Sunderland City Council and the North East Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust, to install new defibrillators and to recruit and train Community First Responders at community hubs across the city.

The scheme saw £90,000 of funding for 29 new machines approved in the summer of 2023 through the Sunderland Health and Wellbeing Board’s Healthy City Plan Grant fund.

It follows a decision by councillors from all parties in November 2021 to back a proposal, calling for the council install more defibrillators and better promote their locations.

Cllr Edgeworth said: “A big thank you goes out to everyone who has worked to make sure a new public access defibrillator installed in the middle of Thorney Close.

“Hopefully no one will ever need to use this new device, but having a defibrillator at the heart of the estate will provide a lifeline in an emergency and give people in the community some reassurance that they know where to go if they ever need a defibrillator in an emergency.

“With a defibrillator increasing the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest from 5% to 75%, it is vital that the council continues to do everything it can to see as many as possible installed in public places in across Sunderland, Washington, Houghton and Hetton – and to increase publicity and awareness about where AEDs are located and how they can be accessed in an emergency."

Other recently installed defibrillators in Sunderland include the new devices outside Vesta Tilley's pub on High Street West, Last Orders pub in Rotherfield Road in Red House and another on outbuildings next to the car park entrance to Doxford Park on Silksworth Road.

A video showing how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator can be seen on the Echo's page at www.dailymotion.com/video/x8t6zwi.