AN ambulance service commander's crusade to get hundreds more public defibrillators installed across the county has stepped up a gear with calls for more in the city.

Dick Tracey of South Central Ambulance Service has been instrumental in helping get numbers up to more than 538 defibrillators across the county – back by an Oxford Mail campaign.

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Now he is turning his attention to Oxford itself. He said: "On a weekly basis people are putting defibrillators into new areas, but I would like to see a lot more in the city.

"We are getting good coverage across rural areas but we still don't have enough in Oxford.

"My aim is to get to a point where you are always within eight minutes of a defibrillator."

There are currently 29 public defibrillators in the city, though there are 538 available across the county as a whole.

Of the devices currently in Oxford, some are in public places, others are on business premises and six are in schools or colleges.

When the Oxford Mail campaign began in July 2014, Mr Tracey called for 200 more defibrillators to be installed in public places in the county. At the time there were just 120 public units.

Among those calling for more devices in the city, is Ray Whittaker from Temple Cowley, who is calling for a public defibrillator at his local shopping centre.

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The father of two said: "I have been thinking about it for months and as a selfish, old man I would like to see a defibrillator at the Templar Square shopping centre.

"I feel it would be a good thing for the community and I have heard in the past couple of months about somebody collapsing – and I think this could help.

"Having a public defibrillator would give great piece of mind and stop people such as myself thinking 'what if?'.

"It is something we have all go to think about. I have had heart trouble and, yes, it is a selfish act – but one that could help save a life."

Staff at Templars Square shopping centre confirmed they had spoken to Mr Whittaker and have bought two public defibrillators which are waiting to be installed, pending staff training.

Mr Tracey added: "I think it is a fantastic idea to get a defibrillator into the shopping centre. It is a high footfall area and it fits in well with my quest to never be further than eight minutes from a defibrillator.

"I am glad to have Mr Whittaker pushing for that to happen and I would be happy to do anything I can to help train people on the device.

"We have trained more than 4,000 people to use defibrillators now, which is a big number. It is not about giving people the competence, but giving them the confidence to use a defibrillator.

"We will certainly help with that. These machines are built so that people do not need training, but we recognise some people do need confidence."

Mr Tracey has also asked businesses to make sure that, if they do have a public defibrillator, it is registered with South Central Ambulance Service's Save a Life phone app – which shows the location of public defibrillators.

There are already public defibrillators at Marriotts Walk shopping centre, Blackbird Leys community centre, the former RAF Base at Upper Heyford, Castle Quay shopping centre in Banbury, Didcot Parkway station, Abingdon police station.

The developers of Bicester's 6,000-home eco-town have promised to install several at the new development, and the Westgate Alliance, the developers of the new Westgate Centre in Oxford have also confirmed they will be installing the machines

Villagers in Yarnton, near Oxford, recently received a machine from an anonymous donor.

Mr Tracey presented the defibrillator on Wednesday. He said: "This chap wants to remain anonymous. He doesn’t live in the village but wanted to donate a defibrillator to Yarnton parish council.

"Not only is the village embracing this campaign but somebody who lives 10 miles away wants to support them.

"He is a cardiac arrest survivor through public accessible defibrillators, and the village now has about four defibrillators."