More than 70 life-saving defibrillators are now available across Cumbria following a successful drive from the county council.

The devices are available in public places, making them easily accessible round-the-clock for use in an emergency.

​Locations where defibrillators can be found in a number of local fire stations, including Alston, Appleby, Aspatria, Bootle, Brampton, Carlisle's east and west centres, Cockermouth, Frizington, Keswick, Lazonby, Longtown, Millom, Penrith, Seascale, Shap, Silloth, Whitehaven and Workington.

A defibrillator is a portable device which can help save someone’s life by restarting the heart after cardiac arrest.

Every minute without CPR and defibrillation can reduce a victim's survival chances by 10 per cent.

The defibrillators for Cumbria were secured jointly through a campaign launched by county councillor Alan Barry during his year in office as chairman of the council and by Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service’s Community Safety team.

Stored in a locked cabinet, the defibrillators are accessed by calling 999, asking for the ambulance service, and getting the code from the North West Ambulance Service to open the cabinet door.

Modern defibrillators also provide verbal instructions on how to operate them and will only deliver a shock if they don’t detect a heartbeat – thereby ensuring they are not used in the wrong situations.

A map showing where the defibrillators are is available online at http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/findmynearest/defibrillators.asp .