The Burnham ambulance station on Queen’s Road in May. © 2018 Nick Skeens

Burnham has its own ambulance station, plus a team of first responders.

There is also the Air Ambulance which flies in every so often to help people in serious trouble. It can now fly at night, too.

This is just as well, as the nearest hospital is Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, over 40 minutes away by car.

Call 999 or 112 if you need urgent medical help OR you are with someone who you suspect may need such help.


First Aid & Defibrillation Kits

Below you will find information about how to conduct emergency first aid and where to find Burnham’s defibrillation kits, or Defib Kits – which can be real life savers.

The Defib unit at the Town Council offices. © 2018 Nick Skeens

Emergency First Aid

  1. If you see someone who has collapsed, call 999 right away and check their breathing.
  2. You can check their breathing by putting your cheek close to their mouth to feel if they are breathing out and by looking to see if their chest is rising and falling.
  3. Please stay until help arrives.
  4. IF THEY ARE NOT BREATHING, you should consider administering CPR – if you have the training.
  5. IF YOU ARE NOT TRAINED, it will help to press down repeatedly over their heart, pressing HARD about twice a second. This helps pump oxygen in the blood to the brain, keeping it alive.
  6. While you are doing this send someone, if you can, to collect a defibrillation kit (see map below).
  7. Defibrillation kits are used to help revive people who have had a heart attack, and/or who have lost consciousness, stopped breathing and have no pulse. They do this by sending a powerful electric shock across the patient’s heart.
  8. Whoever you send to find this kit will need a phone because they will have to ask the 999 service for the keycode to unlock the defibrillation box. To get that they need to know the location of the box.
  9. The Defibrillation kit will ‘talk’ you through the first aid process.
  10. 999 will dispatch Burnham’s first responders as fast as possible, who will take over any first aid operation.

Where to find Burnham’s Defib Kits

The Defib Kits’ locations are marked with red dots. The numbers next to the red dots relate to the list below, where you will find more information.

  1. Royal Corinthian Yacht ClubBelvedere Road, CM0 8AX. The Defib Kit is on the one-storey building in the main car park (beige block work and black-tiled pyramid roof).
  2. Town Council Offices , Chapel Road, CM0 8JA. The Defib Kit on the outer wall, to the right of the main entrance.
  3. Rio Cinema, 153 High St, CM0 8HJ. The Defib Kit is on the outer wall on Station Rd.
  4. Swallowtails Restaurant, Burnham Yacht Harbour, CM0 8HB. The Defib Kit is on the wall next to the Marine Store Chandlery.
  5. T Hutton & Sons garage,  Springfield Estate, CM0 8TE.  Turn off Springfield Road into the road for the dump, and you will see Huttons on the left. The Defib Kit is on the wall to the right of the gates.
  6. Burnham Surgery, Foundry Lane, CM0 8SJ. They have a Defib Kit, but it can only be accessed when they are open.


The Defib unit at the Marina. © 2018 Nick Skeens