A Cornish charity is celebrating the installation of its 100th life-saving public access defibrillator (PAD) at the Royal Cornwall Events Centre, Wadebridge.

Front Line Emergency Equipment Trust (FLEET) was established in 1990 by Cornish ambulance staff to raise funds to buy equipment for Cornwall’s ambulance fleet.

The generosity of the Cornish people, businesses and organisations has led to over £1million being raised for FLEET, all of which has been directed into providing vital equipment to help save lives across the county.

The charity’s aim has widened in recent years and is currently focussing on the provision of PADs across Cornwall to provide vital medical support to people suffering from cardiac arrest.

The latest innovation is an automated cPAD. In January 2014 South Western Ambulance Service Ambulance Control at Exeter was the only ambulance service in the country to have the appropriate computer software to monitor and control cPADs.

The cPAD requires power and a secure connection over the internet to enable the defibrillator to be continuously monitored, the temperature maintained and ambulance control to remotely unlock the device when needed.

Ambulance control they can direct a 999 caller to the nearest cPAD knowing that it will be in full working order and ready for action. Once a box is opened, alerts are sent to nominated local people who can help with treating the patient and ensure the defibrillator is maintained so it is ready for future use.

Wadebridge Young Farmers Club raised the £3100 required to purchase and install the defibrillator which is now in service. The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association have agreed to cover the ongoing monitoring costs.

Steph Hawkey, Chairman of Wadebridge Young Farmers Club said:

“We decided as a club to raise funds to purchase the defibrillator after we had a talk by Norman Trebilcock last year about FLEET and their work.

“We wanted to leave a legacy this year as it is our 70th anniversary year, so we thought a good way to commemorate this would be to buy a defibrillator. The showground is somewhere that all our members, both past and present, have shared many happy memories so we thought it would be the perfect location.

“We raised the funds by holding many events throughout the year, including a Bonfire Night, Bar & Brains Evening, 'Dung Run' around Wadebridge and the Royal Cornwall After Show disco to name a few. All of which have been organised and run by our members.”

Norman Trebilcock, FLEET general manager said:

“We all know how long it would take an ambulance to get to a cardiac arrest patient in this area, the ambulance service always do their very best but sometimes it is just impossible to get there any quicker.

“When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, if defibrillation is delivered within the first 3 minutes there is a 70% chance of survival.”

More Cornish towns and villages are currently raising money for FLEET to enable a PAD to be installed within their community.