VILLAGERS are campaigning for life-saving equipment.

Salway Ash residents have come together to raise enough money for the installation of a defibrillator in the village.

The campaign, set up by the Salway Ash Village Hall Committee, aims to establish an automated external defibrillator (AED) on the outside of the village hall.

Rhona Passmore, who set up a crowdfunding page for the project, said: "Having an AED in our rural village will increase the chances of survival of a person who suffers an out of hospital cardiac arrest. When a cardiac arrest occurs, every minute without the use of an AED can reduce survival by 10 per cent.

"The AED will not only benefit residents of Salway Ash and the immediate surrounding area, but the many people who visit our village to use our busy village hall and playing field.

"We hope that the AED will not need to be used often but having it there will ensure that we are able to provide defibrillation within the ideal time window of three to five minutes of sudden cardiac arrest. AEDS are easy to use by anyone, we will talk users through the process and are unable to deliver a shock if the heart is in a non-shockable rhythm."

A jumble sale has also been held in the village hall to raise funds for the campaign to provide a defibrillator, which would be for public use and could be life-saving.

A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: "If there were more public access defibrillators, more people could get a life-saving shock as quickly as possible, ahead of an ambulance, which would assist in giving them the best possible chance of survival.

"More than 3,600 people are resuscitated by ambulance staff every year in the south west because they suffer a pre-hospital cardiac arrest. "For every minute that passes once in cardiac arrest, a person loses a further 10 per cent chance of survival, and with this dramatic loss in chance of survival, there is need of a defibrillator every for to five minutes walk.

"Without doubt this availability would improve cardiac arrest survival rates throughout the south west."

The project needs to raise approximately £16,500 to buy the defibrillator, including a locked cabinet to store it.

Within the fundraising target is the fee to install the AED and Crowdfunder fees.

Any excess money raised will go towards ongoing maintenance and replacement equipment.

For more information about the project, or to make a donation, visit crowdfunder.co.uk/save-a-life-in-salwayash

The campaign will finish today (Friday, November 2) at 9.30am.