DUNCAN Bannatyne has announced he has now installed 63 potentially life-saving heart-start machines in his health clubs.

The defibrillators, worth around £60,000, were fitted at health clubs in Darlington, Coulby Newham, Ingleby Barwick, Chester-le-Street, Durham, York and Carlisle and at the company’s Darlington head office.

Feelgood Care has supplied the defibrillators and trained key staff in their safe use, basic life support and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Duncan Bannatyne, chairman of Bannatyne Fitness and former TV Dragon, said: “A considerable amount of time and energy has been spent within the company researching the value of defibrillators and it has been decided that these are a good investment for the health and safety of our members. The defibrillators are easy to use and completely safe.

“We already have trained first aiders and proven and effective first aid procedures in all our health clubs and the new equipment, which comes with comprehensive training, will complement this.”

The decision by the Bannatyne chain to install heart-start machines for suspected cardiac arrests comes more than two years after The Northern Echo revived its A Chance To Live heart campaign, which called on North-East gym owners to invest in a defibrillator to prevent unnecessary loss of live.

At that time Mr Bannatyne said defibrillators were a “specialist piece of medical equipment, which should only be operated by qualified medical professionals.”

In 2012 a survey by The Northern Echo found that while council-run gyms all had defibrillators, 80 per cent of private gyms in the North-East contacted did not.

*Why defibrillators can make a difference.. See page 14.