A defibrillator has been installed at a police station after officers raised concerns about the lack of a machine in an emergency situation.

In December 2023, neighbourhood officers at St Ives Police Station in Broad Leas, received a Good SAM alert to assist 52-year-old Ewan Patrick, who has collapsed at his home in the town and was suffering a heart attack.

The officers arrived at Ewan's house and took over CPR from his terrified wife, before they handed over to the paramedics who arrived moments later.

While the force were at the scene, they noticed that they didn't have immediate access to an automated external defibrillator (AED).

An AED can dramatically increase a patient's chances of survival in a cardiac emergency, however, at the time of Ewan's incident, the nearest public AED was at The Norris Museum, which was an "impractical distance" from Ewan's house.

St Ives Neighbourhood Sergeant Andy Caruana, who attended, said: “Happily, Ewan survived and is recovering well from the ordeal, but we know that isn’t always the case.

"This wasn’t the first such call for the team at St Ives and the absence of an easily accessible automated external defibrillator (AED) was a source of concern and frustration so we reached out to partners for assistance and St Ives Town Council answered the call."

St Ives Town Council funded the AED, and last month, the Mayor of St Ives (2023-24), Phil Pope, as well as Sgt Caruana, PCSO Hannah Shepherd and Ewan officially opened the device.

Ewan said: "I’m just glad something good has come of what happened to me and hopefully this new AED will go on to save other people.

"I am extremely thankful to Sgt Caruana and PCSO Shepherd who were first on the scene for helping my wife and saving my life."

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