A VALUABLE piece of potentially life-saving equipment was presented to the Tavistock section of the Dartmoor Rescue Group in a special ceremony last Thursday.
The £3,000 defibrillator has been donated to the DRG by the Tavistock branch of the British Heart Foundation and BHF sponsor Westbury Homes.
Dartmoor Rescue Group provides all-weather, year-round search and rescue services for missing or injured walkers on the moors. The group is manned by unpaid volunteers.
The defibrillator will be used by the group to provide life-saving treatment to patients who are suffering from heart attacks. It will be housed at the group?s Tavistock rescue centre until a ?call out? when it will be transferred to the emergency vehicle.
Bud Francis, controller of Tavistock DRG, said all members of the group will be trained in the use of the defibrillator.
?It will always be with one or other of our vehicles and that will include our attendances at special events, like town shows or Dickensian Evening,? said Mr Francis, who said an incident at Tavistock?s Dickensian Evening last year ?brought it home? to the group how useful the defibrillator would be.
Bernie Steed, Devon area organiser for the British Heart Foundation, said: ?The BHF is pleased to be able to help the vital work of the Dartmoor Rescue Group by providing this important and effective cardiac emergency equipment.?
Mr Steed said the money to fund the equipment came from local supporters of the BHF and Westbury Homes, which is building houses at Windsor Brook in Tavistock at present.
Richard Houchin of Westbury Homes said: ?We are pleased to be supporting Tavistock and the surrounding area with the donation of this vital piece of equipment.?