GOLF COURSE users are set to benefit from a new defibrillator – and life-saving training so that they know how to use it.

Players at Humberstone Heights Golf Course have recently had a new defibrillator installed, for use by the local community.

They have also arranged for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator training to be delivered to club users and members, golf tutors and staff from the city council's Parks Services team who work at the course.

The open-access golf course was recently revamped by owner Leicester City Council as part of a £380,000 improvement programme, which included buying the defibrillator.

The training, called Joe's Mini Heartstart for Sports, will be provided for free by local charity the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT), which works to raise awareness of, and prevent, sudden heart deaths.

The first session takes place at 6pm on Tuesday (5 July) and will be led by JHMT's Alan Harrison White.

Golf course manager David Butler said: "I'm really pleased that we have a new defibrillator and that we'll be getting training in CPR. The training will be extremely beneficial to our members and golf course users, and we're grateful to the JHMT for providing it."

Deputy city mayor Cllr Rory Palmer, who leads on health integration for Leicester, said: "One of our manifesto commitments is to make sure defibrillators are available in our city parks and open spaces. We've already installed defibrillators at several locations – Abbey, Braunstone, Evington, Humberstone, Spinney Hill, Watermead and Victoria parks, and at Aylestone Hall Gardens as well as Rushey Fields and Cossington recreation grounds.

"We're putting in more, in a rolling programme, until all our parks and open spaces have access to a defibrillator. It's great that local charities like JHMT are working with us by offering CPR and defibrillator training."

Dr Mike Ferguson from the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust said: "Sadly, in the UK, there are 60,000 cardiac arrests every year in the community. Half of these are witnessed, often by family and friends, but the survival rate is less than 10 per cent.

"Only 20 per cent of victims are in a 'shockable rhythm', which is treatable by defibrillation, by the time an ambulance arrives. Survival is much more likely when a shockable rhythm is present.

"The proportion of people in a shockable rhythm could be increased if more cardiac arrest victims received immediate and effective CPR from bystanders. That's why we're so keen to provide this vitally important training and make sure as many people as possible know what to do to increase someone's chances of survival."

To find out more about the JHMT, visit www.jhmt.org.uk

To find out more about Leicester's parks and green spaces, visit www.leicester.gov.uk/parks