A DECISION by a provider of defibrillators to remove potentially life-saving machines from Skipton and ‘other parts’ of Craven has been met with regret by Skipton Town Council.

A meeting of the town council recently agreed to carry out an investigation of defibrillators in the town after hearing reports of one being discovered with a flat battery and not able to be used. The intention was to find out who was responsible for the equipment and to eventually promote their locations on the council’s website.

But, Brian Firth, founder of Public Access Defibrillators UK, responded angrily, accused the council of getting its facts wrong and proceeded to remove two of the instruments from the town and from ‘other parts of Craven’.

Mr Firth, who took to social media in response to the original article that appeared online and in last week’s Craven Herald, said the article had singled out his defibrillator in the Town Hall car park.

He said no one could have been ‘sent’ to the defibrillator as it had been out of service for weeks, awaiting a new battery; he also questioned who had the authority to conduct a survey of the equipment and added all the publicity had had a negative impact on the volunteer who looked after the defibrillator.

He said: “We are not prepared to put our guardian in this position and with immediate effect have started removing our Public Access Defibrillators out of the Skipton and Craven area with the exception of Cross Hills and Cononley.”

In response, the town council said it was regrettable that Mr Firth, who lives in Guiseley, had taken the action.

In a statement, the town council said: “Skipton Town Council was advised by a member of the public that during an incident in a local public house, three defibrillators around the town were not available to be used.

“Council officers asked at a recent meeting of the public services committee for the delegated authority to investigate this matter further, to establish who owned and looked after the defibs in town with the intention of supporting the purchasing of consumables and monitoring of the defibs to ensure that they were always rescue ready and available to be used in an emergency.

“It was presumed that this would be a welcome offer especially by the members of public that had made donations to provide the units in the first place.

“It is regrettable that the founder of Public Access Defibrillator, for reasons beyond our control, has not reached out and accepted to work with the town council to ensure that these vital machines are rescue ready and available for use, but rather has taken extreme offence to such offer and is removing the units.

“We can only apologise for this and will move forward to look for funding to ensure Skipton Town has defib units in place.”

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service did not want to comment on the situation between the town council and Mr Firth, but did say public access defibrillators could be provided by businesses, councils, community groups and others.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “Delivering a shock from a defibrillator as soon as possible after a cardiac arrest gives patients the best chance of survival.

“The Circuit is a national database which shows ambulance services the location of the nearest defibrillator available for public use, which may be in a local shop, restaurant or office block, and allows us to direct callers to collect it and treat patients who have suffered a cardiac arrest in the community.”

The current locations of public access defibrillators in the UK can be found at: https://www.defibfinder.uk/