A shock to the heart; HEALTH: Baggies have trained 11 staff to use a life-saving defibrillator.

Byline: Alison Dayani

MOMENTS watching West Bromwich Albion battle for promotion can be heart-wrenching for some fans.

But the football club has now invested in a new defibrillator to ensure they can shock someone back to life if the gripping action proves too much for their hearts.

There are now 11 members of staff trained on using the equipment, which is based in the East Stand reception.

Michelle Davies, Albion's operations director, said: "The health and safety of our staff, customers and supporters is of paramount important to us and we are always looking at ways to make improvements in this vitally important area. "The defibrillator, coupled with the staff training, means we can offer onthe-spot assistance should anyone on our premises go into cardiac arrest."

Around 850,000 adults suffer a cardiac arrest every year and 90 per cent of them can be saved by defibrillation.

The quicker a patient suffering a heart attack can get access to a machine, the better as every minute a patient is in cardiac arrest, their chance of survival decreases by 10 percent.

Emma Wilkins, community response manager for Birmingham and the Black Country, said: "More and more places in Birmingham and the Black Country are realising the benefits of having a defibrillator which is fantastic news for the ambulance service.

"If someone suffers a cardiac arrest and there is a defibrillator and trained people to hand, they can immediately provide the patient with vital emergency treatment until an ambulance arrives." West Midlands Ambulance Service is always on the look out for more busy public places to install defibrillators.

Anyone interested in hosting a *defibrillator is asked to contact Emma Wilkins, on 07884 052285.

CAPTION(S):

Care: Emma Wilkins with a defibrillator and Michelle Walker.