On 01 March, Alex Chalk KC MP joined 2023 Circle 2 Success Community Award winners, Public Hearts Key Partners ahead of their 75th Defibrillator installation and new community Heart Screening program.
Public Hearts Key Partners – C2S, Tidal, Spirax and Evans Jones discussed the increasing need for publicly accessible defibs as public health infrastructure to support the increasing number of out of hospital cardiac arrests, which is currently around 35,000 in the UK each year. Alex has supported Public Hearts since it was created by Clare in 2018 is impressed by the installation of 74 defibrillators, including a staggering 68 in the last 2 years.
He is also keen to raise awareness of our new cardiac screening program, which will be truly transformational and life-saving in Cheltenham.
The first of its kind in Cheltenham, this funded community cardiac screening program for people aged 14–35 years old is part of Public Hearts wider mission to raise awareness, understanding and the provision of lifesaving kit to address and support out of hospital cardiac arrests. Public Hearts will be screening up to 100 people on this date to address health inequalities and empower young people to take charge of their heart health.
Alex shared in an email “Thank you to the amazing Clare and her team for inviting me to Public Hearts HQ alongside key partners to learn more about the lifesaving work Public Hearts are doing in Cheltenham. Our whole community owes Public Hearts a debt of gratitude.
Public Hearts is a community not-for-profit campaign who have installed 71 (now 74!) publicly accessible defibrillators in and around Cheltenham since 2018.
That’s about £200,000-worth of investment, and makes our town better covered than probably anywhere else in the South-West.
And before you ask – yes, they’re being used!! The data shows that this kit has already saved lives.”
To find out more and support Public Hearts, please visit https://linktr.ee/publichearts
