A DEFIBRILLATOR which was installed outside of a Poole school following a car accident over two years ago has already been used to help save a life.

The defibrillator was installed on the gates of Upton Junior School during October half term 2020 following an appeal from Upton resident Jamie Dunn.

Following the accident in December 2018 which saw pupil Reggie Hughes involved in a collision with a black Volkswagen Golf, Jamie, a former governor of the school, was concerned about the distance of the nearest defibrillator.

He said: "Luckily a defibrillator wasn’t needed for this accident in 2018, but if one was, the nearest one was too far away for an accident like that. If the incident had required an urgent defibrillator it probably would have been too late.

"I first wrote to the school's trust, Hamwic Educational Trust, in December 2018 to start campaigning for one. In 2019, my workplace gave the go ahead to sponsor the case for the defibrillator to be placed outside of the school gates.

"I don’t know why the installation took so long, but the fact of the matter is, one was installed."

The defibrillator was recently required for a member of the public who lives down a nearby road, shortly after it was installed.

Upton Junior School Headteacher Andy Gould used the defibrillator himself to help the resident.

Jamie said: "I don’t know the full outcome, but I’m hoping that the defibrillator went some way to save the person. Ever since I’ve completed training on defibrillators, I’ve always been an advocate for them.

"I’m hoping this will highlight why they’re so important and why they should be easily accessible to people. The importance of having defibrillators is what prompted me to campaign for that particular one at Upton Junior School.

"Thankfully, it was installed and it hopefully helped to save someone’s life. This is a good story in what is a sad and negative time."