Defibrillator hopes for town supermarket

A book sale is being held inside Morrisons, off Squires Gate Lane, South Shore, in a bid to raise enough cash to fund a defibrillator.

Some £1,000 has already been raised, it is understood, and shoppers have been urged to ‘give generously’ to fund the high-tech gear, which is used to help those suffering from a life threatening heart condition.

“Morrisons Blackpool is raising money to buy a defibrillator for the store and, with the support of the Blue Skies Hospital fund, will provide full training to our first aid trained staff to the benefit of our customers,” the store said.

Defibrillators are devices that give electric shocks to the heart through the chest wall to someone in cardiac arrest, the British Heart Foundation said.

They are becoming increasingly common in public spaces, often placed in locked boxes accessed by keycode – with 999 operators able to give the code to people should they need it.

The movement was prompted by Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba’s on-pitch heart attack in 2012.