TRAINING to save lives has taken place in Ludlow.

There are six potentially lifesaving ‘heart start’ machines in place in and around Ludlow.

These are at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Ludlow Mascall Centre, Ludlow Homecare, Rockspring Community Centre, Tesco, and Vision Homes, 1A Toll Gate Road.

A donation from The Ludlow Hospital League of Friends of £10,733.00 for the purchase of the equipment has helped to make this possible including the provision of a defibrillator for Ludlow Football Club.

The machines can be used to provid a controlled electric shock to a patient that has suffered a heart attack or heart failure and can but vital time before trained medical assistance arrives.

Whilst defibrillators are relatively easy to use and come with audible instructions they are likely to be more effective if the users has some basic training.

The heart start machines are especially important in isolated rural areas like Ludlow where it can take ambulances and paramedics longer to arrive and lost minutes can mean lost lives.