Nursery nurses and teachers are getting life-saving training after a special piece of medical equipment was donated to their school. The defibrillator, which can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency, has been handed to Glendene School and Community Arts College in Easington Colliery. The Crawlaw Road school caters for pupils of all ages with profound special needs and some of the pupils have medical complications.

The Cardiac Science Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was bought for the school by Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS UK) and North East baker Greggs, in co-operation with the Community HeartBeat Trust.

Members of the North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust have agreed to help train the staff at the school, which is also a community arts college, in how to use the equipment.

Mark McNichol, a teacher and first aid trainer at the school, which caters for pupils with a wide range of learning and physical difficulties, welcomed the move. "A few of our students have heart problems and we do get a number of elderly people from the community using the school, so it is wonderful to have the peace of mind that we have got this defibrillator on site. The aim is that all staff members will be trained to use it. We hope that we will never need to put it into action, but it is good to know that we would be able to bring a child or adult round in an emergency. They really can make the difference between life and death."

Anne Jolly, Founder of SADS UK, said: "Unfortunately, we are contacted at times by parents whose children have suffered cardiac arrest and we are so pleased that Glendene School is acting to avoid this tragedy by putting defibrillators on the premises to protect youngsters and people whilst at their school."

Karen Gardner, head of non-clinical education and development at the North East Ambulance Service, said: "We are delighted to support Glendene in this way and will continue to support their training requirements to ensure thestaff are confident in supporting the needs of the students. The Automated External Defibrillator is easy to use by the layperson, providing voice prompts to the rescuer."

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Please make sure you have read and understood this disclaimer - It will be assumed that you have read prior to CHT receiving any request. CHT are not responsible for your fund raising, nor your cPAD operations, but may assist in both. CHTs only aim is to support the installation of a cPAD scheme in the most cost effective way possible adhering to Best Practice, and help save lives in your community. This website, and any downloaded information, is for information only on how to go about obtaining and installing a cPAD, and other relevant information. All copyrights and trademarks are recognised. All support for the cPAD will be undertaken by the village committee responsible and via standard manufacturers warranties. Any training organisation will only be responsible for the initial awareness training and not for the functioning or maintenance of the AED. Please do not send any monies to CHT until you have registered your scheme with us, and have agreement from the local ambulance service for the establishment of a cPAD scheme. All schemes must be registered with the local ambulance service (CHT will also undertake this or you can do via this site, but this does not remove responsibility for you to notify the local ambulance service of your AED location). 999/112 (ambulance) must always be called prior to using a cPAD equipment. VAT may be applicable if your organisation is not an eligible body as defined by HMRC. All current or historical claims for VAT will be met by the local community. All schemes will be asked to sign an agreement taking responsibility for their own fund raising and donations to CHT, and then the operation and maintenance of the cPAD equipment. All CHT provided schemes will need to manage their maintenance through the WebNoS online system as a condition of CHT support. It is your responsibility to maintain the equipment in working order and to make sure the local ambulance service is aware of this. WebNoS makes this possible and also acts as an audit trail for management of the equipment. Sites provided by CHT and not using WebNoS may be disengaged from the ambulance service CAD systems. Any web site showing defibrillator locations is for information only, and should not be used in preference to dialling 999. CHT works in close cooperation with the UK ambulance services. Always dial 999 in an emergency

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