DEFIBRILLATORS save lives. One person in the county can attest to this emphatically. But who is it?

The identity of the donor whose cash has sparked a major plan to install the electronic devices across West Oxfordshire to help save cardiac patients is a mystery.

Yet there is nothing mysterious about the wider issue here.

Ambulance response times in the region – and in rural areas generally in the county – are not good enough.

Indeed, to get them up to standards that the Government sets, dozens of ambulances would need to be bought.

We know that the NHS is in tightened financial straits and local services are being looked at as part of a review.

That is part of the wider problem public services with limited funds are facing.

So, inevitably, other measures that help save lives have to be sought.

Defibrillators are easy to use and can make a quick and vital difference in emergencies.

A donation has played a crucial role here.

And, in a neat alignment of the stars, it has come to light just hours after Oxfordshire County Council revealed plans to allow people to donate to the authority.

Ideally, all ambulances would arrive on time to emergencies.

Yet we do not live in an ideal world – and therefore this scheme and others like it may soon become more and more common.