As part of its commitment to help charity Welsh Hearts fund for much-needed defibrillators throughout Wales, Brecon Carreg has placed its first one within the Brecon Beacons.

Located at Nant Ddu Lodge, the defibrillator is available to members of the community which includes thousands of walking tourists a year.

There are 8,000 sudden cardiac arrests outside hospital in Wales every year, and only a 3% survival rate. It is Welsh Hearts’ ambition to see a country where nobody is ever further than 100m away from a lifesaving defibrillator.

Brecon Carreg selected Welsh Hearts as its charity partner of the year thanks to one of its engineers Rob Hopley. Rob’s daughter Stacie, 17, was born with undiagnosed heart defects and praises the charity’s work dearly.

Rob was given the opportunity by Brecon Carreg to select the first defibrillator location and he selected the Brecon Beacons because his family spends a lot of time within this beautiful area.

Eleri Morgan, brand manager, Brecon Carreg said:

“We’re thrilled to have placed our first defibrillator within a Welsh community. The statistics surrounding cardiac arrests are frightening so anything we can do to help improve these is fantastic.”

The device – which delivers an electric shock to the heart of a patient when they have had a cardiac arrest – has been placed in a heated case outside Nant Ddu lodge. It is designed to be used by the public and has audio and visual prompts that instruct the rescuer what to do in an emergency.

Sharon Owen, director, Welsh Hearts said:

“We are delighted to work with Brecon Carreg to place more defibrillators where they are needed most. It’s especially important that defibrillators are accessible in rural areas that could take an ambulance a lot longer to get to. Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest and we hope it’s reassuring to the local community to know it’s there just in case.”

Richard Watson, leisure manager, Nant Ddu added:

“We are so pleased to house the defibrillator at the Nant Ddu Lodge Hotel and Spa. I believe we are well situated within the Brecon Beacons and whilst we hope the community never need to use the defibrillator, we can rest assure that if needed it could be the difference between life and death. I’d like to thank Brecon Carreg and Welsh Hearts for their support, and hope the local community feel safer in the knowledge that they have a defibrillator in case of an emergency.”

There will be a defibrillator and CPR training session open to the public at Nant Ddu Lodge in the near future.