This evening I went to the village to attend a session on CPR and using the defibrillator that is sited at the Village Hall.  The trainer was clear and skilled in teaching us how to deliver chest compressions and breaths using three “dummies” that she brought with her on which to demonstrate and practice.  The defibrillator was a bit more complicated and can only be used if there are at least two people around when someone collapses and has stopped breathing.  It is the CPR combined with the immediate call out of an ambulance that gives the best chance of survival but use of the defibrillator will be a factor if the heart has gone into fibrillation – and luckily the machine decides whether or not an electric shock is required or contraindicated.  Let’s hope that none of us ever face such an emergency but if we do let’s not be afraid to give the person who collapses the best shot of survival.