DOLLAR residents could be the latest to benefit from having a piece of vital life-saving equipment posted on the high street, if the idea is approved by the council.

Members of Dollar Community Development Trust lodged an application with the local authority for an automated external defibrillator (AED) on the corner of Bridge Street and McNabb Street.

If given the nod, it will be placed in a public access cabinet on the outside wall of Lloyds Pharmacy. The initiative is similar to the life-saving device installed in Alloa last year.

Cash for the project came from a Foundation Scotland grant through the EDF Burnfoot Hill Community Fund and the trust is working with guidance from the Scottish Ambulance Service to bring the equipment into town in a bid to boost cardiac arrest survival rates.

A spokesperson from Dollar Community Development Trust told the Advertiser said: "The trustees are very grateful to the pharmacy for supporting this project as the device gives the community a lifesaving facility 24 hours daily.

"A defibrillator is a lifesaving machine that gives an electric shock in cases of cardiac arrest and can save lives.

"Some members of the community will be trained to use the machine and the trust will ensure on-going management and maintenance.

"In the event of an emergency, when use of the machine is required contact is automatically made with the ambulance service who will give on-line support to the person using it whilst an ambulance is on its way.

"Contact data will also be available to call the help of Community First Aid Responders."

As the Advertiser previously highlighted, CPR is an essential skill that needs to be employed alongside a defibrillator in order to save lives.

Most automated machines use an around two minute cycle between shocks and in the meantime, oxygenated blood is essential for the brain and other vital organs to avoid certain death.

It may be impossible to bring someone back, or at least severe brain damage is extremely likely, after just four minutes without blood circulating around the body.

The trust highlighted figures showing how cardiac arrest kills 2,000 people in the UK every week with 80 per cent of deaths occurring out of hospital.

The statement added: "Experience in communities with an accessible community defibrillator show significant improvement in survival rates.

"The Dollar Community Development Trust is very pleased to be able to provide this facility."

More information on the equipment will be made available once it is installed and fully operational.