LIFE-SAVING equipment is to be rolled out to rural communities in Gloucestershire.

Villages and hamlets are being given the chance to put defibrillators up in public places which residents can access if someone has a heart attack.

The machines can make all the difference to a patient's outcome while emergency services are on route, with statistics showing early defibrillation can increase a person's chance of survival after cardiac arrest by up to 50 per cent.

Paramedic Kevin Dickens said: "Defibrillators can make a huge difference between life and death.

"If you have a defibrillator by someone's side within minutes their chance of survival is far greater.

"With every minute that passes their chances of living diminish by 15 per cent.

"Defibrillators should be like fire extinguishers – everyone should recognise them and know how to use them. If we can achieve this we will be saving lives." The machines, which cost £1,000, are being offered to parish councils. They can then be put up in key places in the community.

Each one is housed in a locked box, which keeps it at the correct temperature. Suitable sites include the side of Post Offices, pubs or the doctors' surgery.

On Thursday the first one in this scheme will go up in a disused phone box in the middle of Chedworth.

"Gloucestershire is made up of 527 local communities, ranging from large market towns to small hamlets. It would be brilliant if every community had one of these boxes," added Kevin, who is community responder manager for Great Western Ambulance Service.

When a 999 call is made emergency services staff will tell the caller where the defibrillator is and give them a code to open the box.

The caller will then be talked through how to use it and what to do until paramedics arrive.

Last year a defibrillator at East Glos Club in Cheltenham saved the life of squash player Ted Seaman who suffered a massive heart attack.

He was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by opponent Ross Forno while Dr Finlay Robinson, who rushed to the scene and took charge, shocked his heart back into action.

Had the machine not been available, vital seconds would have been lost before paramedics arrived and Ted, then 59, could have died.

Now many businesses and public facilities in the county have a defibrillator, including leisure centres and shopping outlets in Gloucester and Cheltenham.

Kevin said: "We all know of someone who has died of premature cardiac arrest.

"It's really heart warming when people are being proactive in getting new skills and equipment rather than doing it when it can be too late for some people."

Community Heartbeat Trust, a national charity, is helping subsidise the cost of the machine and also providing training in how to use it.

Charity secretary Martin Fagan said: "The defibrillator is a fairly easy machine for people to use however you still need to bring people's confidence up and help them through what is a difficult and stressful situation."

For more information visit website www.communityheartbeat.org.uk.