A member of the Scottish Parliament has called for defibrillators to be installed at three railway stations on the Borders Railway to Tweedbank.
Craig Hoy, the Conservative MSP for South Scotland, has called for the defibrillators to be installed at Tweedbank, Galashiels and Stow railway stations. His call was in response by former SNP transport minister Kevin Stewart to Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene who highlighted that 56 railway stations in Scotland are currently equipped with a defibrillator. They include some of Scotland's busiest stations such as Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street, and Edinburgh Waverley.
As well as installing defibrillators, ScotRail is installing other forms of lifesaving equipment, and last December it installed a Beed COntrol Kit at Haymarket railway station in Edinburgh.
Kevin Stewart confirmed to Jamie Greene that there are plans to install more defibrillators across the railway network in Scotland. However, there is a total of 359 railway stations in Scotland, and Craig Hoy reiterates it is crucial for more passengers and staff to be able to access defibrillators as soon as possible.
Craig Hoy added that he hopes local people will support the campaign and ensure stations on the Borders Railway are included in the list of stations that have access to a defibrillator. He said: “Having easy access to a defibrillator device can often be the difference between life and death.
“While it is welcome that over 50 stations in Scotland now have them on site, I am keen to ensure that staff and passengers using Borders stations have access to one too.
“You never know when an emergency situation might arise, so having a defibrillator on hand to use before emergency services arrive, would be of great help.
“I will continue to encourage SNP ministers to guarantee ScotRail will have the resources they need to rollout further defibrillator devices, including hopefully across the Scottish Borders in the near future.”
