School in Stoke joins healthy heart drive
2022-05-17
Students receive life-saving defibrillator from local employer
A SCHOOL in Stoke-on-Trent has joined forces with a local employer in a bid to save lives by installing heart defibrillators in the community.
Students at Biddulph High School in Knypersley received a defibrillator that was donated by Hartshorne Group, which supplies and services Volvo commercial vehicles.
The portable medical device - which can be used to restart the heart of a person in an emergency - was installed as part of the company's Healthy Heart Campaign.
Head teacher Elizabeth Robinson said: "We'd like to thank everybody at Hartshorne who helped to raise funds for the heart defibrillator. It's reassuring that we now have one on site if ever a need arises."
The school has a close relationship with the company, which has hosted workshops and site tours at its Potteries depot in Newcastle-under-Lyme for students interested in engineering apprenticeships.
Hartshorne Managing Director Ian Middleton said: "It's a pleasure to support such an excellent local school. I'd like to thank everybody at Biddulph High School for making us feel so welcome."
Defibrillators are portable and come with voice instructions. They can be used by any adult and are registered on a database so that 999-callers can be directed to them where appropriate in an emergency.
Staff at Hartshorne, which operates from nine depots across the Midlands region, are continuing to raise funds to install more defibrillators in the community. The company is donating £1 for every hour of physical exercise that its employees record via an app.
* Businesses and organisations that already have defibrillators on site can register their devices on an official database at www.thecircuit.uk