MORE than 50 new lifesavers were trained up in just five days to be able to use specialised equipment.

A defibrillator machine has been installed on the outside of Clacton Town Hall and is there for anyone in that area of the town centre.

The machine was provided by the Holland and Clacton First Responders and paid for by Clacton Carnival Association from the carnival street procession.

Training courses have been staged all this week with 50 places up for grabs on a free course run by the Community First Responders.

The sessions were run under Heartstart which is a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training course and is a British Heart Foundation campaign.

Training includes how to recognise when a person is in cardiac arrest, how to perform CPR, how to use the defibrillator, how to place an unconscious person in the recovery position, how to help someone who is choking and how to deal with a serious bleed.

Lynda McWilliams, Tendring Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for health and wellbeing, said she was very impressed that so many people came forward.

“We had an excellent response with 52 people taking part and we will now look to run another week of courses if there is still the demand out there,” she said.

“I took part myself and what we learnt may enable us to help save someone’s life in the future.”

Anyone wanting to take part in a future two-hour course should contact Lizzie Ridout on 01255 686340.