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Plans are in place for public access defibrillators to be installed around the entrance gates of every primary school in Renfrewshire – enabling 24-7 community access to the life-saving equipment.

The emergency resuscitation devices are already available at all secondary and Additional Support Needs (ASN) schools across Renfrewshire.

Now, councillors on the Finance, Resources and Customer Services policy board will meet next Wednesday (1 September) to approve the purchase and installation of new public access defibrillators to be fitted on the gates of all 50 primary schools.

And the plans would include additional defibrillators added at secondary schools where the existing ones aren’t accessible to the public.

Councillor John Shaw, Finance Convener, said: “The incident involving Danish international footballer Christian Eriksen reminded us all how defibrillators can be the difference between life and death and this investment will not only ensure children and staff at our schools have access, but be publicly accessible for all Renfrewshire residents and communities.

“This matter was raised with me by a number of constituents including Kirklandneuk Primary Parent Council and I’m pleased that we’ve been able to address this as a matter of urgency.”

Defibrillators are already in place in Council buildings, town halls and at local leisure facilities, the device locations registered with the national network to help the emergency services when responding to 999 calls.

Each defibrillator includes simple-to-follow instructions on how to use them in the event of an emergency.

Education convener Councillor Jim Paterson added: “It’s important that we have ample provision across all our schools, while also ensuring members of the public can have access to them too and I look forward to them being installed as soon as possible.”

If approved, the new publicly accessible defibrillators would be installed by the end of the year.