A Carlisle aesthetics clinic has installed a public defibrillator to improve the safety not only of its patients but also the local community. 

VL Aesthetics installed the device at the end of June and all its staff have been trained in its use.

It has been placed on the outside of their building for access by the general public.

Vanessa Brown, managing director of VL Aesthetics, said they were inspired to get one after learning that the nearest alternative was at Morrisons, a five-minute drive from their Kingmoor clinic.

“By the time you do that the chances of saving someone’s life are hugely minimised because it’s too far away and it takes too long to get a paramedic to the area.

“So that’s why we wanted to get one on site because if anything was to happen locally at least we can deal with that instantly.”

The defibrillator has been registered with Carlisle City Council.

Anyone calling 999 can be directed to it and talked through how to use it by the operator.

Installing it is part of VL Aesthetics’ commitment to the highest standards of medical safety.

The clinic is registered with the Care Quality Commission after undergoing a thorough assessment of its protocols and risk assessments with ongoing monthly checks. It’s recent review showed an overall rating of ‘Good’ and in the category well-led the clinic received an ‘outstanding’ rating. VL Aesthetics also holds an Excellence award with independent government regulator – Save Face.

It’s also reflected in their nominations as finalists in the Safety in Beauty Awards last December and the Aesthetics Awards.

Vanessa added: “It’s not a requirement for us to be CQC registered but we wanted to show that we are safe and really care about our clients.

“The CQC doesn’t require us to have a defibrillator, but it’s obviously very important to provide one because at the end of the day it can be the difference between saving someone’s life or not.”

A defibrillator will shock someone’s heart back into rhythm during cardiac arrest, giving them the best chance of survival.

Just one in 10 people will survive a heart attack outside a hospital without treatment, according to the British Heart Foundation.

That chance increase with figures from the London Ambulance show that when a public access defibrillator was used by a bystander and at least one shock was delivered to patients, the survival rate was more than five times higher.