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       Our Defibrillators
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About our Village Defibrillators:
The village now benefits from two defibs both originally installed by the Cairnryan Hall Welfare & Facilities Group Ltd, both enjoying full public access. Both of these Defibs (and their storage systems etc) are now owned and maintained by our new 'Cairn Group', with ownership transferred on cessation of the older Hall Group.
 
One very crucial and essential aspect of any externally placed Defib is that the Devices' Defib 'pads' need to be stored within the Defib Cabinet at a temperature of at least 5°C. If the pads are stored at cooler tempreratures their effective use on the device is likely to be impaired - and in an emergency they do need to work properly. To achieve this the Cabinets are fitted with a small internal heater using a 240v supply. So it is a crucial requirement that any Defib Cabinet needs to be sited at a location with an available and maintainable 240v supply - hanging an external cabinet from a tree or other location without a sutable 240v supply (hoping for a mild winter) 'just won't wash'.

The Village Hall Defib: The first installed Defib is located at Cairnryan Village Hall with the kind permission and support of Village Hall owners D&G Council. This Defib installation was originally funded (with thanks) by the Scottish Power Renewables Wind Farm based monies, received via the Cairnryan Community Fund and administered by Foundation Scotland. The Defib device is a "Cardiac Science G5, Semi-Automatic, with CPR Feedback, housed within a 'Defibstore 4000 cabinet (the yellow box). The crucial 240v supply to this cabinet, for temperature control, is provided by connection to the Hall's mains supply (so all is good - as long as there isn't a power cut).

'The Cairn' Defib: The second installed Defib is located at 'the Cairn' (north) end of the village, and is sited on a small public access plot of land backing on to the garden area of the 'Cairnryan B&B' (with thanks to the B&B's owners). This Cairn end Defib and cabinet was originally funded directly by The Cairnryan Hall Welfare & Facilities Group, using donations from the village Sports & Social Club and the 'Hobbies at the Hub' organisation; the Cairnryan B&B; and with further personal contributions from directors of the Group. Although application was made for funding via the Cairnryan Community Fund - they did not support funding for the 'Cairn Defib. The Defib device is a CIA Mindray BeneHeart, Semi-Automatic Defib, housed within a 'DefibCaddy' cabinet (the yellow box).

The crucial 240v supply to this cabinet, for the over 5°C temperature control, is NOT provided from a 240v mains supply. Instead we have installed a suitable off-grid solar/inverter supply system. In simplified terms the crucial 240v supply for the internal heater is provided by a pure sine wave inverter. This requires a supply of 12v from a dc battery bank to the inverter, to create that 240v supply. To keep the 12v battery bank capable of storing sufficient power we fitted an off-grid solar panel and charge controller. This pragmatic control system has kept this defib ready and available and at the correct temperature range for well over a year, so far (August'25 edit).

How the solar system works: So the solar panel charges the 12v battery bank, which supplies the inverter with 12v to create the necessary 240v suppy for the wee heater in the cabinet. The small heater, in turn, keeps the defib pads above 5°C. There are, of course, maintence controls required for such an off-grid system - but it can keep going even in a power cut. As can be seen from the photo, direct access to the Defib for maintenance purposes is directly from the public pavement (not requiring access onto a private residence). Similarly, there is ready access to the grey power supply control box, just visible in the photo. As can be seen there is certainly no need to enter a private residence for maintaing the system - as inferred by some during the non supported grant application process. For legal reasons we now rent the plot - but understand our rental fee will, with thanks, be donated to the British Heart Foundation by the land owners. Group has agreed to match such donation also to the British Heart Foundation.

Public Accessing the Defibs: Both our Defibs are held within locked Defib Storage Cabinets (the yellow boxes). Emergency Public Access to the equipment is gained when a member of the public has dialled 999. The ambulance control staff will provide the caller with the combination lock number to open the relevant storage cabinet - it's a simple push button system, with chrome handle. The ambulance controller will have all the details of the particular Defib model and it's exact location - the information available to the controller is held on a national database called the circuit to which we subscribe. Ambulance controllers are trained professionals and will stay on the 999 line for as long as it takes to provide the caller with the best advice and guidance - pending arrival of the highly trained and well equiped ambulance paramedics.

The actual portable defib devices are simply hooked in place within their cabinets and easily removed to take to where the casualty is located. In both cabinets there are simple accessories such as a razor, and pair of sharp scissors - the scissors to cut away clothing to bare the casualty's chest for the defib pads and a razor to briefly shave any excessive hair from the chest if needed to let the pads stick to the chest - so take these items with you to the casualty location.