In late 2017, Alyth Development Trust installed the first of three publicly-available defibrillators to help save lives in and around Alyth. Defibrillators are life-saving machines used to re-start someone’s heart if they have a heart attack. In a rural community like Alyth, fast access to an ambulance is not always possible, yet there is only a window of five minutes to re-start a stopped heart before fatal brain damage is done, so access to these machines needs to be fast. Anyone needing to use the new defibrillator, located in a disused phone-box in Alyth’s Market Square, must phone 999 to get the security access code to open the box and access the defibrillator. The security access code means the life-saving equipment in the box is secure until it is needed.
ADT vice-chair Marian Bruce commented: “We hope everyone in Alyth will help keep it safe from vandals and challenge anyone who is trying to damage it – your life could literally depend on it! We’re immensely grateful to to The Collective Dairy (makers of amazingly tasty yoghurt) for funding this defibrillator in memory of Mike Hodgson, their co-founder, who tragically died in 2015 after a heart attack suffered while cycling in the Lake District. We hope that their kind donation will be a life saver for anyone in Alyth in the unfortunate position of needing a defibrillator. We’re also very thankful to the Drumderg Wind-Farm Community Fund for a micro-grant of £300 enabling us to reconnect the electrical power supply to the phone box.”
In early 2018, ADT applied for funding for a further two defibrillators to be installed elsewhere in the town.