21 May 2025 • 8 min read
Local rail operator Trenitalia c2c has fitted each of its 26 stations with life-saving, community-accessible defibrillators.
The defibrillators have been installed at stations as part of a route-wide upgrade project, with the units accessible to both local communities and colleagues in case of emergency.
Anybody can access and use the life-saving equipment at c2c stations, with the units available to members of the public 24/7.
If a person has a cardiac arrest, a defibrillator can help restart their heart while waiting for emergency services to arrive – they have simple instructions and anyone can use one.
You can see a short c2c film to mark the installation of the defibrillators below.
Margaret Mullane, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, said on the completion of the roll-out:
“I am pleased to be able to help raise awareness of the fact that there is a potentially life-saving defibrillator at each of c2c’s stations.
“There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year and currently less than one in 10 survive. It is great to see our local railway taking steps to protect our community in this way and I would urge everyone to take a moment to find out where the defibrillator is at their local c2c station.”
c2c is committed to positively contributing to the health and wellbeing of its local communities – and, in case of an emergency, the location of the defibrillators can be found easily by looking at the British Heart Foundation website online at Defib finder.
c2c has also installed further potentially life-saving equipment, with Bleed Kits now at seven locations across the route. The kits are designed to allow health professionals or members of the public to stem serious bleeding by using items such as bandages, gauze and tourniquets.
c2c’s Managing Director, Rob Mullen, said:
“We take the health and wellbeing of our local communities and colleagues very seriously, so to be able to offer life-saving equipment at all of our stations along our route shows the commitment we have to being there for people, should the most serious of situations occur.
“These defibrillators now sit alongside our existing specialist medical equipment, which includes our new Bleed Kits, and are available to those who need help in an emergency. Of course, our hope is that the people of our local communities never have the need to use these incredible pieces of equipment, but if they do, we are proud to be able to offer it.”
The defibrillators are self-instructing so that anyone can use them. No training is required, which makes them fully accessible to the public for emergency use – furthermore, they also have sensors in them so they will never shock a person unless it is needed.
Recently, c2c Customer Delivery Assistant, Donna Ilett and her colleague, Train Dispatcher, Abdul Kadir, found themselves in an emergency situation at Barking station when a member of the public collapsed on the station concourse. An ambulance was called and while they waited for paramedics, Donna performed CPR and used the station’s defibrillator.
The person’s heart restarted and Donna continued with CPR until the ambulance arrived and the customer was taken to hospital, where they was successfully treated – and, after the person had been discharged, they paid a visit to Barking station to thank Donna and the team personally for saving their life.
Donna said:
“I am so happy that we now have defibrillators installed across the entire c2c route. I know first-hand that these machines save lives and have a huge impact on the lives of the families of anybody that requires such critical help.
“In that crucial moment when I found myself having to use a defibrillator, it was such an easy machine to use and had it not been there, that person would not have been able to get the medical treatment they needed.”
Leah Cable, c2c’s Customer Delivery Manager, who led the installation project, said:
“It is stories such as Donna’s that make the installation of these amazing pieces of equipment so worth it. We have worked hard to get the defibrillators and the Bleed Kits installed at our stations and I am so proud that when the crucial time came, our equipment was there to save a life. These really do benefit our local communities and I am proud to have led the charge to get them installed on our route.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
About c2c
- c2c is the award-winning train operator running services between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness, serving 26 stations in East London and South Essex.
- Owned by Trenitalia, c2c is one of the UK’s most punctual and popular train operators and nearly 35.8 million journeys are made on its services every year.
- Italian-based Trenitalia is one of Europe’s leading rail operators and the passenger rail arm of FS Italiane Group.
- For more information email mediaenquiries@c2crail.net
- Bleed Kit locations
- Barking: Wall next to entrance to Platform 4 & 5
- Chafford Hundred: Next to the Ticket Hall entrance
- East Tilbury: Next to the Ticket Hall entrance
- Fenchurch Street: Concourse next to Costa
- Grays: Next to the Ticket Hall entrance
- Southend Central: Inside the Ticket Hall
- Upminster: Downstairs Ticket Hall
- Defibrillator Cabinet Accessibility:
- Barking: Wall next to entrance to Platform 4 & 5
- Basildon: Ticket Hall
- Benfleet: Ticket Hall
- Chalkwell: Ticket Hall
- Chafford Hundred: Ticket Hall
- Dagenham Dock: Ticket Hall
- East Tilbury: Community donation – does not belong to c2c
- Fenchurch Street: Concourse next to Costa
- Grays: Ticket Hall
- Laindon: External wall to the station entrance
- Leigh-on-Sea: Ticket Hall
- Limehouse: Ticket Hall
- Ockendon: Ticket Hall
- Pitsea – Awaiting cabinet arrival
- Purfleet: Ticket Hall
- Rainham: Ticket Hall
- Shoeburyness – Platform 2
- Southend Central: Ticket hall
- Southend East: Next to the external Ticket Office wall
- Stanford-le-Hope: Next to Entrance to Platform 1
- Thorpe Bay: Station Front
- Tilbury Town: Community donation – does not belong to c2c
- Upminster: Downstairs Ticket Hall
- West Ham: Next to the lift leading to platform 7
- West Horndon: Ticket Hall
- Westcliff: Ticket Hall
- For further defibrillator guidance, please see the British Heart Foundation website by clicking here.
Images
Featured Image: ‘Sue Watson (Women’s Officer, Dagenham and Rainham Labour Party), Habib Rahman (Mobile Staff), Fay Hough (Senior Caseworker for Margaret Mullane MP), Joe Hendry (c2c Head of Stations) and Salrita Sheen-Suresh (c2c Customer Deliver Manager)’
Second Image: ‘Margaret Mullan, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, at Rainham Station’
Third Image: ‘Joe Hendry, c2c Head of Stations, with the defibrillator at Rainham Station’
Fourth Image: ‘Rainham Station defibrillator’
Fifth Image: ‘Rainham Station defibrillator’
Sixth Image: ‘Rainham Station defibrillator close up’
Seventh Image: ‘Donna Ilett, c2c Customer Delivery Assistant, with a defibrillator’
Eighth Image: ‘Bleed Kit installation at Tilbury Town station’
Ninth Image: ‘Bleed Kit at Tilbury Town station’
Tenth Image: ‘Rob Mullen, c2c Managing Director’