Sussex Heart Foundation and Hove Business Association have donated a defibrillator to the Brighton i360 to help to save lives on the seafront.

Defibrillator at Brighton i360

Brighton i360, Hove Business Association and Sussex Heart Foundation unveiled the defibrillator to local businesses

Jill Humphrey, Hove Business Association Chair said: “After a year of fundraising Hove Business Association are extremely proud, in conjunction with The Sussex Heart Charity, to be able to provide an AED in such a prominent public area. Our thanks to the team at i360 for providing the facilities for our first siting.

“Those first few minutes following a cardiac arrest are vital and the use of an AED can be the difference between life and death. To have one in such a public place with thousands of visitors is of huge benefit.”

One of our own team  knows exactly what she means: “I know from hard experience the importance of having an AED nearby. My father’s life was saved by quick thinking staff and the use of a defibrillator at his local gym, after he suffered a cardiac arrest. Without it, we would have suffered a devastating loss.”

The defibrillator is operated on a self-service basis and has simple instructions on the device so that anyone can operate it. To make sure everybody was confident and understood the best course of action should someone suffer a heart attack, we also asked Chris and Viki from the Brighton and Hove Council Seafront Team to give us a demonstration.

Said Eleanor Harris, CEO of the Brighton i360: “We are very grateful to Hove Business Association and Sussex Heart Foundation for their kind gift. We hope that it will help to save lives on the seafront and can be used by both the i360 and surrounding businesses as well as the public. We take very seriously our role in the safety of seafront visitors, especially in light of the increasing tourist numbers in the city.”

The defibrillator has been installed ?on hoarding at the south east corner of the Brighton i360 site during the construction phase and will move to the beach building after the attraction opens in 2016. Local businesses in the arches and at bottom of Preston Street will also benefit from the device being at this location. The nearest defibrillator is at the Pier, which is several minutes away from the new tower.

The defibrillator is of the East of the i360 site, on the hoardings

The defibrillator is of the East of the i360 site, on the hoardings

Toni Manuel from the Council seafront team said: “It’s great to see another defibrillator on the seafront and one which the public can use too. We currently have 3 defibrillators at the Brighton Seafront Office which our staff use. These are then distributed to Brighton, Hove and the Deans (Rottingdean, Saltdean & Ovingdean) over the summer.

Our Seafront Team are first-responders to 999 ambulance calls on the seafront and with the quad bikes we can get to the i360 in a few minutes”.

The AED was unveiled to members of the i360, Mackley and Hollandia as well as some of our neighbours: Cad-eau Online, The Hat Shop, Lavender Room and the Ice Café. We hope that we never need to use the defibrillator but it is reassuring to know that we can take action should the worse happen.