The fundraising efforts of firefighters in Kyle of Lochalsh, Isle of Skye, have resulted in the purchase of a new public access defibrillator for the town.
The crew raised £1,500 which was donated to the Lucky2BeHere charity and part of that donation was used to buy the defibrillator. Lucky2BeHere champion in Skye, Ross Cowie, met the crew this week and took receipt of their kind donation.
It will provide the community with instant access to potentially life-saving equipment and the unit has now been installed at the fire station in Kyle.
SFRS Group Manager Fraser Nixon, said: “The crew have shown the service in a very positive light and have shown commitment over and above that which is expected of them which is a credit to them individually and to the unit as a whole.
“Not only did they raise money to pay for this defibrillator but they have undertaken training in its use through the charity Lucky2BeHere.
“This defibrillator will be available to all members of the community and could potentially save a life.”
Late last year SFRS entered into a partnership with the British Heart Foundation which saw the charity donate CPR training kits to every fire station in Scotland.
The idea is to help build a nation of life-savers by offering communities the opportunity to teach themselves CPR.
Anyone can contact their local firefighter and agree a date and time to use the self-teach DVD and manikin at one of Scotland’s 356 fire stations. There is a CPR kit available for the public to use at Kyle of Lochalsh fire station.
The partnership is part of both organisations’ commitment to the Scottish Government’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest strategy, which aims to save 1000 lives by 2020.