Cardiac charity SADS UK has helped Ballet West get a defibrillator at the school. Staff at the Taynuilt institution were given training on how to use it last week when Victoria Tongs, a community resilience facilitator for the Scottish Ambulance Service, led a hands-on session.
The SADS UK Big Shock campaign wants to see defibrillators available in all schoolsthand communities. As well as the support of ambulance services, it has Good Morning Britain’s Dr Hilary Jones as its patron and the backing of Dame Helen Mirren.
Ballet West administrator Mike Rowell said: ‘The defibrillator buys life-saving minutes and, because we are in a remote location, it’s particularly important for us to have one here because we have a lot of young students. ‘It’s also for the use of the community, although there is already one at the sports pavilion down in the village.’