ST Rocco’s Hospice has received a grant from the Department of Health and Social Care to help buy a new community defibrillator.

The grant comes as part of the department’s £1million Community Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Fund, which will increase the number of defibrillators in public places.

Defibrillators are devices that send an electrical charge or current to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat and are used when a person is suffering a cardiac arrest.

An AED can be used by anyone, even if you have never seen one before and can help save lives – increasing the survival rate of a cardiac arrest from six per cent to 74 per cent compared to when CPR is used.

The new defibrillator will be located on the wall outside St Rocco’s Hospice on Lockton Lane in Bewsey.

In an emergency, call 999 and staff will advise you on how to access and use the machine.

To find out where your nearest defibrillator machine is visit defibfinder.uk