60 Westhoughton residents learn life-saving skills

More than 60 residents took part in life-saving defibrillator training in January.

The training was organised by Westhoughton councillor and former NHS worker Neil Maher on behalf of Westhoughton Town Council.

Neil, who worked for the North West Ambulance Service for over 20 years, is leading a team of councillors looking at defibrillators in Westhoughton.

The ambulance service provided the free training for residents over two days.

Neil said: “We have quite a few defibrillators around Westhoughton so we had a very informative and interesting session where everybody was encouraged to have a go at CPR using the training defibrillator on ‘Annie’.”

Town mayor councillor Deirdre McGeown added: “Residents seemed to enjoy the session, really getting involved and hopefully taking away any fear of using it.

“Of course real life is different but knowledge of how to use the defibrillator could help you save a life.”