Life saving defibrillator installed at Elstree & Borehamwood station

A brand new life-saving defibrillator machine that can make anybody a life-saver have been installed at Elstree & Borehamwood station. A plaque commemorating the joint project, courtesy of train operator Thameslink, was unveiled on Wednesday by Town Mayor Councillor Richard Butler.

Lawrence Stack of the Elstree & Borehamwood Residents Association began the campaign and fundraising to get public access defibrillators (PADs) installed at various locations in the town. The town council embraced the idea, assigning Councillor Pat Strack to co-ordinate a team of people from various organisations with the aim of delivering PADs at key locations identified by the team, police and mapped out by town Councillor Clive Butchins.

James Gillett, station manager for Thameslink, has championed the successful introduction of PADs at other stations on the route including Luton and Luton Airport Parkway, offering public training sessions, enthusiastically supported the project to bring one to his station at Elstree & Borehamwood, funded by The Borehamwood Spiritual Centre.

James said:

“This new technology can potentially make any one of our passengers a life-saver.

“These machines have saved lives in the past and as station manager I am delighted that we have one at Elstree & Borehamwood. Anyone can use it because it gives clear, step-by-step instructions before automatically detecting and then delivering a shock. This is quickly done which is essential in a situation in which 10 minutes can be the difference between having a chance of recovery and having virtually none.”

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Notes to the editor

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) began running Thameslink (Bedford to Brighton, Sutton and Wimbledon) and Great Northern (London to Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn) rail services on 14 September 2014. A small number of services and stations previously operated by Southeastern transferred to GTR in December 2014 and on 26 July 2015 the Southern and Gatwick Express routes were incorporated into the franchise. GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 273 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn. www.thameslinkrailway.com