Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is proud to announce the installation of a new public defibrillator outside its Cayley House head office, on South Lane, in Elland. This initiative, supported by Neil Davidson and his Community CPR Fund, aims to enhance the safety and well-being of the local community by providing immediate access to lifesaving equipment.
Neil, who is a cardiac arrest survivor himself and local advocate for CPR training, kindly supported the funding of the weatherproof external defibrillator cabinet to house the device.
After experiencing a cardiac arrest in 2017, during which his then 25-year-old son performed lifesaving CPR, Neil has been passionately committed to increasing public access to CPR training and defibrillators throughout Calderdale.
Neil stated, “My Community CPR Fund is dedicated to providing essential resources like External Defib cabinets to organisations such as Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Making this defibrillator available 24/7 to the Elland community is a crucial step in saving lives.”
The defibrillator, supplied by YAA, is fully automated and equipped with simple voice prompts, ensuring that even untrained individuals can confidently use them during a cardiac emergency.
The new defibrillator is now one of nine public defibrillators in Elland, located at strategic points including: Elland Working Men’s Club, Elland Fire Station, W J Roadmarkings Ltd, J C Health & Fitness Ltd, 102 Southgate, a post box 30 meters from Ainley Mount on Huddersfield Road, Screwfix Elland, THS Industrial Tiles, and Cross Lane Primary School.
Louise Shorrock, Office Manager at Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s Cayley House, added, “These defibrillators are designed to be user-friendly, with no formal training needed, which helps instil confidence in those who might need to use them. As a community-focused, patient centric, organisation, we’re committed to exploring all possible ways to support people in need as much as possible. Being based on a busy road, surrounded by local businesses and opposite an Aldi supermarket means it is always busy in the local vicinity. We hope it will give the local Elland community piece of mind that there is a publicly accessible defibrillator in the proximity.”
Yorkshire Air Ambulance continues to support community health initiatives, reaffirming its commitment to saving lives and improving emergency response capabilities across the region.