IT is the life-saving equipment that saved a shopper’s life in a supermarket aisle.

Now the ambulance service has urged other businesses to install defibrillators in a bid to save lives and praised the quick-thinking staff and members of the public who performed life-saving first aid.

It comes after the Daily Echo reported how an off-duty cardiac nurse, a mental health nurse and Tesco staff performed CPR and used the store’s defibrillator to restart the pensioner’s heart.

South Western Ambulance Service said every second counts when someone is in cardiac arrest and defibrillators make the difference between life and death.

David Toman, community responder officer for South Western Ambulance Service, said: “We are delighted to learn the patient has made good progress since his cardiac arrest.

“Early intervention with a defibrillator or administering CPR is absolutely vital and literally every second counts when someone is in cardiac arrest.

“We continue to work in partnership with Tesco by registering the defibrillators they have installed in their stores and would encourage other businesses to replicate what they have done.

“These machines can – and do save lives and using one can make the difference between life and death.”

As reported yesterday, Louise Blandamer, who is a senior cardiac nurse at the private Nuffield Health Bournemouth Hospital abandoned her shopping and ran to take over CPR from a mental health nurse after a shopper in his seventies fell to the floor of the Tesco store in Branksome on Sunday afternoon.

A Tesco manager Matthew Holland dashed to fetch the store’s defibrillator and a second store manager Sam Turpin used it to shock the man in his seventies before taking over CPR from Louise, whose arms were beginning to tire.

Paramedics rushed the man to Royal Bournemouth Hospital where he is recovering and making good progress.

A South Western Ambulance Service spokesman said there are 1148 public access defibrillators across the region and urged anyone who has one to register it with the service for use in an emergency.

To register a defibrillator, call the South Western Ambulance Switchboard on 01392 261500 or go to swast.nhs.uk