A nursery which has recently invested in an £800 defibrillator wants people to know the life-saving medical equipment is there in times of crisis.

Scallywags nursery in Suttons Lane, Hornchurch, have invested in the medical device after an incident involving a child in July.

Emma Reynolds, who opened the nursery in 2002, told the Recorder: “It was terrifying, he just collapsed and stopped breathing. Fortunately we were able to give him CPR and he was taken to hospital and they ran some tests and fortunately he was fine, but after that we decided to look into getting a defibrillator.”

Staff at the nursery began holding bake sales and fun days, and thanks to the amazing support of the nursery’s parents, were very quickly able to raise the £800 needed for the potentially life-saving piece of equipment.

“We were really surprised and really grateful that all the parents got on board with it and helped us to raise the money,” added Emma.

“We had a number of parents donate and some were really generous, so we’re very thankful to them.”

Although all Scallywags staff have to complete mandatory child care courses, they have also completed additional defibrillator training to allow them to operate the device.

“We all did some extra training, and we’ve made sure to store it in the kitchen where the little ones can’t get to it – the last thing we want is to find the children playing with it!”

But that doesn’t mean the nursery is keeping the defibrillator under lock and key.

Quite the opposite in fact, Emma wants the entire Hornchurch community to know there is a piece of potentially vital medical equipment in the nursery.

“We really want to get the message out there that this is for all the community to use,” Emma said. “It’s not just a case of it having to be used in the nursery.”

“If someone is taken ill on the street or something it’s important they know we have this equipment here and we’re fully trained and can help.”