A DOCTOR has called for vandals who damaged a box containing a defibrillator to be forced to take a course in life-saving to help them understand how important the machines are.

A&E consultant Rob Galloway spoke out after the machine placed outside Wish Park Café in Hove was discovered broken into on Saturday morning.

The defibrillator had not been damaged but has now been removed while repairs are carried out on the box.

Dr Galloway, who works at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, was among those who helped fundraise for the machine, which was supplied by the Sussex Heart Charity.

He said: “Because of what these vandals did, people’s lives have now been put at risk.

“It is a stupid thing to do and very frustrating.

“These community defibrillators save many lives and whoever has done this clearly doesn’t understand how important they are.

“What they need to do is own up to the police, apologise and then be made to go on a CPR course to learn more about what life-saving is about and why these machines should not be interfered with.”

The machine is contained in a box which can only be opened if someone calls 999 and is given an access code.

Plans are already in hand to sort out the repairs to the box so the defibrillator can be returned as soon as possible.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sussex Police.

The Argus’ Save a Life campaign was launched last year and calls on businesses, schools, hotels, clubs and community groups across Sussex to have easily accessible defibrillators installed.

The machines are simple to use and completely safe – they will not work unless someone is suffering a cardiac arrest so no harm will come to the person it is used on.

The Argus launched Save a Life because there are up to 1,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Sussex every year and about 20 per cent of these occur outside the home, often affecting younger age groups.

Survival rates for these patients are currently just five to ten per cent compared with places such as Scandinavia and north America, where the figure more than doubles to 20 per cent or higher.