Agenda and minutes

Councillor Ken Rigby – personal reasons

None.

Of the meeting held on 8 January 2016 (for confirmation).

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2016 as a true record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of Chief Fire Officer.

Craig Parkin, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, presented the report on Public Access Defibrillators, a proposal between the Community Heartbeat Trust and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.

After discussion with members, the following information was provided:

(a)  having defibrillators in more locations allows for early intervention on heart attacks.  Often, members of a local community will be able to tell when an individual is struggling and in need of a defibrillator – the devices are very easy to use;

(b)  the defibrillators give the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) standing in local communities.  The devices are largely free of charge, and will be maintained by NFRS;

(c)  Councillor Brian Grocock suggested writing to all City Councillors to see if they would like to make a contribution to London Road and Stockhill stations out of their allowances.  This matter could also be referred to relevant Area Committees;

(d)  defibrillators will be bolted onto the front of fire stations, and to access them a code will be required.  The code can be supplied by dialling 999. 

  The Heartbeat Trust can inform members on non-fire station installations;

(e)  it is hoped that the increase in defibrillators can ease some of the burden on the NHS.  If a quick intervention is possible, it may just save more lives;

(f)  a risk analysis of communities needs to be carried out by NFRS on an annual basis.  It will be interesting to discover whether residents feel that the fire service is part of the health agenda, or whether they are just needed for response;

(g)  there will be a Joint Health Seminar held at NFRS involving County Councillors, City Councillors and NFRS;

(h)  the Communications team at NFRS are involved with the launch of this scheme.  There is also an expectation that staff should tell residents about this when visiting the community.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the contents of the report and support the proposal;

(2)  ask Wendy Fletcher to give Automated External Defribrillator training to Members that would like this.