PEOPLE in the Leys have given their heartfelt approval to equipment that could save the lives of people going into cardiac arrest.

At a meeting of Blackbird Leys Parish Council on Tuesday those present were shown different models of defibrillators put together by South Central Ambulance Service.

It was agreed that two ‘public access defibrillators’ will be installed at Blackbird Leys Community Centre, Blackbird Leys Road, and Catalyst Housing Ltd, Nightingale Avenue.

They will be mains-operated and housed in weatherproof, vandal-proof yellow cabinets and will run for about five years.

The life-saving devices are designed to be used by anyone, if someone goes into cardiac arrest.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council clerk Nicky Clargo said: “My friend was on a plane to Canada last week and had a heart attack, and they had a defibrillator.”

People nearby can call 999 and ambulance staff will give them a special code to access the defibrillator, which will then talk them through the process.

With a discount offered by manufacturers Wellmedical, each of the devices will cost £1,381 – £540 for the cabinet and £841 for the defibrillator – as well as a £30 annual electricity bill.

For more than a year the Oxford Mail has backed a campaign led by South Central Ambulance Service’s divisional responder commander, Dick Tracey, to get hundreds more defibrillators installed across the county.