OXFORDSHIRE’S “Mr defibrillator” has said he is “buzzing” after the Government promised to set aside £1m for new machines.

South Central Ambulance Service divisional responder commander Dick Tracey said George Osborne’s Budget pledge this week showed recognition of their importance.

Mr Tracey, who is leading a campaign to take the number of public defibrillators in Oxfordshire from 120 to 320, said: “I am very pleased.

“What really pleases me is the recognition, at national level, that these simple, easyto- use machines are saving lives. The Government has come on board with £1m – it may not be enough, but it is a start. The recognition means as much as the money. It’s brilliant news and we’re all buzzing about it.”

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The Chancellor made the promise to set aside the money for the Department for Health in his Budget speech on Wednesday.

Defibrillators can be used to restore normal heart rhythm in a person having a cardiac arrest by sending an electric pulse through the chest.

A patient’s chance of survival decreases by roughly 14 per cent every minute that passes without defibrillation.