Workspace defibrillator in heart of community
March 19, 2009
Workspace Group staff have clubbed together to provide an automated external defibrillator for the use of the local community.
Their fundraising effort of £1200 means the defibrillator has been purchased and fitted to the rear wall of the Backrow Recreation Centre in the town where it can be accessed 24/7 by fully-trained members of the community. A list of all trained personnel is posted on the box as well as in Toners shop, Maxol garage.
Patricia Murray of the Backrow Centre said: “Having the defibrillator there in a central location will enable trained personnel within our community to apply it to members of the public who have had a cardiac arrest. The appliance will literally ‘restart’ the heart prior to the patient obtaining medical assistance”.
Mrs Roisin McKenna, Principal of St Colm’s High School in Draperstown said: “The defibrillator is an invaluable piece of equipment in our school community which is easily accessed. This life saving device is there for the benefit of all, young and old”.
An Automated External Defibrillator is a portable electronic device which applies an electric shock to the patient’s heart so that it can re-establish an effective rhythm.
