The OurJay Foundation based in Rugby, Warwickshire has partnered with master developer Urban&Civic and Turtle Defib Cabinets, to introduce the country’s first wind and solar powered defibrillator cabinet on a residential development site. The sustainably heated, public defibrillator cabinet has been installed in Urban&Civic’s new community of Houlton in Rugby.
OurJay and Urban&Civic had already worked together in recent years to install defibrillators in the new community at the local schools and the village centre at Houlton. But with another 4,000 homes still to build at Houlton, the charity approached the developer to introduce Turtle and their new solar and wind powered cabinet solution to enable defib access in construction areas.
Designed and manufactured by Turtle, the solar defib cabinet is the twelfth to be installed in the UK, and the first on a residential development site.
Turtle’s combined solar and wind power technology ensures a cabinet can be kept heated 24/7, even when there’s no electricity supply. Defibrillators must maintain a temperature above 0 degrees, but above 10 degrees is recommended, so they need to be kept indoors or be in a heated cabinet if external. Solar power alone cannot guarantee the maintenance of temperature in dark and cold UK winters, but this new technology is enabling defibrillators to be installed in areas where electricity supply may be restricted like construction areas.
For every minute that someone's in cardiac arrest without receiving CPR or having a defibrillator used on them, their chance of survival decreases by 10 per cent.
The OurJay Foundation was founded by Naomi, a Rugby resident, after she sadly lost her son Jamie due to the lack of an accessible defibrillator nearby, which could have saved his life. It proudly stands as one of the Houlton community's chosen charities.
Naomi Rees-Issitt, the founder of the OurJay Foundation, said:
“We are so grateful to the team at Urban&Civic for seeing Jamie’s legacy and inspiration and making sure we could achieve this vital piece of life saving equipment for the Houlton community. Heart safety is becoming so much more important to people and through our partnership with Urban&Civic, Houlton now have a defibrillator for every 300 units - this is very unique and we are very proud of this. Thank you also to Turtle for manufacturing such a fantastic idea in this sustainable defibrillator option.”
Sonia Nakra-Norman, Communications and Partnerships Manager at Urban&Civic explained:
“We’re proud of our ongoing partnership with the OurJay Foundation in Houlton – it has been informative and inspiring to work with this local charity and whilst we always hope not to have to use our defibrillators, they provide reassurance to our community and those working on our development sites.”
Mike Dowson, Founder and MD of Turtle Defib Cabinets, who designed, engineered and installed the wind and solar powered defib cabinet technology, commented:
“Developers and contractors can deliver far greater reaching benefits when they partner with local charities, and bespoke needs – like a lack of community accessible defib cabinets – can be uncovered and addressed. We’re delighted to help OurJay and Urban&Civic achieve their goals at Houlton and applaud them for their partnership. Location and an electricity supply is no longer a barrier when it comes to being prepared for cardiac arrest emergencies, and we thank OurJay Foundation for championing this message with our wind and solar powered defib cabinet in Houlton.”
Located on the former Rugby Radio Station site to the eastern edge of Rugby, the development of Houlton is a joint venture between master developer Urban&Civic and Aviva Investors. With over 1200 families now living on site as well as a village centre, community centre, two schools and a nursery, the Houlton community continues to grow with outline planning permission for 6,200 homes over the next 10-15 years.
To learn more about Houlton and Urban&Civic, visit www.urbanandcivic.com.
Visit www.ourjay.org.uk to find out about and support the OurJay Foundation.
For more information about Turtle’s defib cabinets, bleed control cabinets and the equipment to place inside, please visit www.turtledefibcabinets.co.uk.