A major project to install six community defibrillators and bleed control cabinets has been completed in Coventry City Centre.
The project, which has been led by Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) and OurJay Foundation, will ensure that members of the public have 24/7 access to the potentially lifesaving equipment throughout the city centre.
Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) has funded the purchase of the equipment, with businesses and organisations in the city centre funding installation.
The project, which has been running over the last year, began with the introduction of a defibrillator and emergency bleed control kit at Skydome, with the sixth now installed and publicly available at Cathedral Lanes.
Other kits are available in Lower Precinct, on Smithford Way next to the outdoor entrance of WHSmith at West Orchards Shopping Centre, opposite Baxter Baristas on Millenium Place and outside Coventry BID’s offices at Holt Court on Warwick Row.
Coventry BID has been operating in the city centre for 20 years and was voted in by levy paying businesses, with safety in the city centre a key priority, as Coventry continues to work towards achieving the internationally recognised Purple Flag status.
Joanne Glover, Chief Executive at Coventry BID, said: “We would like to thank our partners across the city centre for their support in delivering this vital project, which ensures that the public can reliably access potentially life-saving equipment in key locations.
“Our objective when we started this work last year was to create a network of defibrillators and bleed control cabinets that would be easily accessible to anyone within the ring road.
“This is an important step to improving the infrastructure in the city centre to be able to react quickly in the case of an emergency.
“We are proud to have worked on this project which is part of our wider activity to shape a safe and secure environment for everyone who lives, works and visits Coventry City Centre.”
Naomi Rees-Issitt, Jamie’s mum and chair of the OurJay Foundation, said: “It has been great to work with Coventry BID to help with heart safety across a number of new sites in Coventry City Centre.
“Ensuring that this vital lifesaving equipment is accessible to the community 24/7 means so much to us all at OurJay Foundation and every single site reminds us of how many lives could potentially be saved, in memory of our precious Jamie.”