Red alert as holiday park puts medical lifeline on call

An iconic red phone box is now home to life-saving medical equipment at a remote rural holiday park in Lancashire, thanks to an initiative by its family owners.

Moss Wood in Cockerham near Lancaster has fully restored a classic K6 phone kiosk which is now installed at the park entrance and houses a  state-of-the-art defibrillator.

In the event of an emergency in the local community or on the park, the unit could greatly increase the chances of survival for someone suffering cardiac arrest.

With the park’s hideaway location deep in the countryside, says Moss Wood‘s Henry Wild, the defibrillator can save vital minutes in providing treatment to a victim.

Defibrillator could save vital minutes for holiday guests

The equipment delivers an electric pulse through the victim’s chest to restore normal heart rhythms, and is much more likely to be effective if used immediately after an attack.

Henry says the advanced and fully automatic model installed provides simple audio instructions which allow their use even by those with no medical experience.

The defibrillator has been supplied by the North West Ambulance Service which will be providing training on its use to the park team and selected holiday guests.

Moss Wood has been owned by the Wild family for over 40 years, and provides pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes plus caravan holiday homes to own.

But the peaceful countryside setting, says Henry, doesn’t mean that the park is immune from the risk of medical emergencies arising:

“Having a defibrillator immediately to hand could make a crucial difference, and especially in summer when travelling times are lengthened by extra traffic,” says Henry.

“The equipment is, of course, something which we hope will never be needed – but we are mindful of its life-saving potential, especially in a remote rural area.

“Sudden cardiac arrest is a major killer in Britain, and a close-at-hand defibrillator on the park could dramatically increase a person’s life chances,” he added.

Novel use for old telephone box

Henry arranged for the top-to-bottom refurbishment of the K6 phone box, including its repainting in the official shade of red, in order to make its presence more prominent.

Built from 1926 onwards, the boxes have been voted as one of Britain’s top 10 design icons along with the Spitfire fighter plane, the London tube map, Concorde and the Routemaster bus.

There is more information about Moss Wood on its website at www.mosswood.co.uk