For the second time in less than a month one of Tenby’s life-saving defibrillator devices located at the De Valence venue has once again been targeted.

The incident follows on from damage caused to other ‘heart-starter’ devices in the town, with defibrillators located outside the town’s Tesco store on High Street and alongside the North Beach vandalised in recent times.

“We were saddened to discover on Saturday during our routine checks of the defibrillator cabinets in Tenby, that somebody has once again stolen the key for the cabinet at the De Valence,” said Ben James of Tenby and Saundersfoot First Responders.

“As a result, the defibrillator is now out of action until a replacement arrives. This is one of our busiest defibrillators and has been deployed on several occasions, most recently to a patient who had stopped breathing just two weeks ago.

“This is the second time in less than a month that this particular cabinet has been targeted and follows on from the damaged caused to both the Tesco and North Beach cabinets,” he continued.

Commenting on social media, one of the local public house’s door staff team said that he had used the device by the De Valence in recent weeks whilst performing CPR on a young woman who stopped breathing inside a night club in Tenby.

“Myself and another colleague used this defib and thankfully she came around before paramedics arrived 25 minutes later. The person who went to get this defib had to break in to this very box because there was no key!.

“Whoever took that key doesn’t realise that if it wasn’t for that defibrillator telling us to perform CPR in a dark noisy night club environment, who knows what could of happened! Having access to a defib, is like having a doctor at your side,” they added.

Ben said that anyone who may have information as to who is responsible for the latest damage, to please either get in touch via private message on the Tenby and Saundersfoot First Responders Facebook page, or contact Tenby Police station on 101.

“Defibrillators are a vital link in the chain of survival when somebody has had a cardiac arrest,” he continued.

“Although we have others around the town, the extra time it takes to get one of those when the De Valence one could be the closest could make a huge difference to the outcome of a patient and their chance of survival,” added Ben.