COMMUNITY leaders have bought three lifesaving devices for locations in their part of Wrexham.

The three defibrillators and locked cabinets have been installed by Stewart Rawson Electrical Contractors of Wrexham.

Karen Benfield, clerk to Offa Community Council, paid tribute to Mr Rawson and thanked him on behalf of the council for work on installing the units which he had carried out free of charge.

She also thanked the managers of the three buildings where the defibrillators had been located for allowing the work to go ahead and for connections to the power supplies for the heated cabinets.

They are: Ian Savage at the Plas y Bryn Medical Centre on Chapel Street, Paul Maddocks, manager of Maesgwyn Hall on Mold Road and Annette Bryden, manager at the Hightown Resource Centre on Brynycabanau Road.

The defibrillators are secured in the cabinets located on the outside wall of each of the three buildings near the entrance doors.

Access to the defibrillator is gained by phoning the emergency telephone number to the ambulance service on the outside of each cabinet.

A code is then quickly given by the ambulance operator to open the cabinet accessing the defibrillator and they will also stay on the line to give full instructions on its use while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

When someone has a cardiac arrest their chances of survival diminish with every minute that passes and after seven minutes without medical attention their chances of survival are minimal.

This means that in areas where an ambulance or paramedic take longer than this to arrive an outdoor defibrillator should be installed.

* Anyone wanting to access training on the use of defibrillators is being asked to contact Mrs Benfield on 01978 291562 or by email to clerk@offacommunitycouncil.gov.uk.