Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan has announced a further £500k
to improve community access to defibrillators.
Increasing the availability of defibrillators in community
settings will help to improve the survival rates of people who
suffer a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.
The funding will enable community groups, sports grounds and
public organisations to access a defibrillator and is a further
boost to the £500k announced in September last year.
The previous funding saw more than 400 applications for
defibrillators approved, including from local and town councils,
residents’ associations, gyms, schools, sporting venues,
childcare venues and places of worship.
Each year in February, a month-long #Defibuary campaign takes
place to raise awareness and equip people with the skills and
confidence to save a life.
A person’s chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
decreases by an estimated 10% with every passing minute. Every
year in Wales around 6,000 people suffer sudden cardiac
arrest.
Save a Life Cymru, a Welsh Government-funded campaign, also helps
to raise awareness, fund new educational and CPR training
resources and improve public access to defibrillators.
There are currently 6,188 public access defibrillators registered
with the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and the Circuit (the
national defibrillator network).
Minister for Health, Eluned Morgan said: “I
am pleased to announce a further £500k in funding, bringing our
investment in community defibrillators to £1m in the last six
months.
“I am committed to raising awareness of lifesaving skills and
ensuring better community access to defibrillators across
Wales.
“It’s important we have a comprehensive network of
defibrillators, people are aware of that network and have the
confidence to use them. The work of Save a Life Cymru will help
support this.
“Every second counts when someone suffers a cardiac arrest. We
can all help raise awareness of the importance of early CPR and
defibrillation.”
Notes to editors
- A case study of an application approved and shortly receiving
a defibrillator is below. For further information please contact
chris.seal@gov.wales
-
Neville Eden, 61, applied to Save a Life Cymru for a
community defibrillator on behalf of the residential estate
where he lives and set up a fundraising page to cover the
cost of the defibrillator cabinet.
Within 12 hours of setting up the page the residents of Parc
Hendre, in Abergele, raised more than £500.
The cabinet has now been installed on an electrical
sub-station, after permission was granted by SP Energy
Network, and the defibrillator is set to be installed next
week.
Neville, who previously trained as a first aider with the Red
Cross, said: “The idea came from a local Facebook group set
up in lockdown and really brought everyone together. They’re
all amazing for raising the money in such a short period of
time.
“I’ve shared a few training videos in the group about how to
use it, but I know the 999 operator would talk through it
with anyone who needed to use it.
“We’re also hoping to organise a CPR and defibrillation
skills session with a partner from Save a Life Cymru, so
people feel confident to use it too.”
- 490 applications were submitted for defibrillators
purchased from the first £0.5m announced for community
defibrillators in September. Applications have varied from:
local and town councils, residents’ and housing associations,
gyms, schools, sporting venues, organisations,
childcare venues and places of worship.
- So far, 433 applications have been approved. Nineteen
applications were not approved as they did not meet the
critieria.
- Each year in February, a month-long #Defibuary campaign
takes place to raise awareness and equip people with the
skills and confidence to save a life.
- Every year in Wales more than 6,000 people will have an
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and currently the survival
rate is less than one in five. In Wales, 80% of cardiac
arrests occur in the home.
- Anyone, at any age and at any time can suffer a cardiac
arrest and knowing what to do and being familiar with a
defibrillator can improve the chances of survival. It
is a quick and easy skill to learn and you can find out
more by visiting https://gov.wales/save-a-life-cymru
- Save a Life Cymru is a valuable partnership that brings
together organisations across Wales to help develop the Welsh
public’s CPR and defibrillation skills so people feel
confident to help if they witness someone experiencing an
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
