CARDIAC resuscitation charity Heartstart Malvern is celebrating World Restart a Heart Day (October 16) by teaming up with Malvern Hills District Council to install public access defibrillators.

Five sites have been chosen to give coverage and they are : Handyman House, Francis Carpet Showroom, Spring Court, Validair (installed) and Morrisons (due soon).

Richard Vakis-Lowe, chairman for Heartstart Malvern, said: “It has long been Heartstart Malvern’s intention to better engage the support of Malvern’s business community.

"This generous funding via Malvern Hills District Council has not just enhanced defibrillator coverage, but given us a focus for the free training which we offer directly into businesses.

"It brings our tally of defibrillators in the district now to 25 in under three years - something which we are immensely proud of.

"This, allied to the almost 3,000 people we have trained in that time in life-saving resuscitation techniques means that a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest in the district is increasing exponentially.”

Simon Smith, economic development manager for Malvern Hills District Council, said: “It is a delight to see these partnership funds put to such good community use.

"We have been very pleased to work on a number of community health training projects with Heartstart Malvern and this is a perfect development of our joint commitment to healthier neighbourhoods. We are all immensely grateful to all the businesses that are hosting the defibrillators in the heart of our business parks.”

Mr Vakis-Low added: "In a life-threatening emergency like a cardiac arrest seconds really do count.

"Knowing how to do basic Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) can make the difference between someone surviving the cardiac arrest or not surviving.

"Having a defibrillator nearby will greatly increase the chance of a patient surviving a cardiac arrest.

"This is why Heartstart Malvern is trying to train as many people as possible in simple resuscitation skills and to install a network of defibrillators across Malvern’.

"During a training session we will teach people how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator."

To book a place on a training session visit: heartstartmalvern.org.uk or call 07926 615812.