Heart attack equipment for Princes Park
St John Ambulance
volunteers Philip Winchester and Jo Eade presenting the
defibrillator to DFC representatives Clare Weeks and First Team
Captain, Elliot Bradbrook.
The home of Dartford FC is now
an even safer place thanks to a donation from St John
Ambulance.
The club has been given a
defibrillator, also known as an AED, to keep at Princes
Park.
It is an important piece of
equipment that can save lives in the minutes after someone suffers
a cardiac arrest or heart attack.
The machine shocks the heart
back into action and can be operated by anyone, regardless of the
level of their first aid knowledge.
St John Ambulance volunteers
from the charity’s Dartford unit are regularly at Princes Park
matches, providing first aid, and were delighted to be given the
opportunity to collect donations before pre-season games with West
Ham and Arsenal last summer.
The collections raised £1,000 to
buy three AEDs – two for use by the volunteers at other events, and
one specifically for the football club.
Joanne Eade, a volunteer with St
John Ambulance in Dartford, said: "The survival rate for someone in
cardiac arrest increases by more than 50 per cent if an AED is used
within the first four minutes, so immediate defibrillation could be
the difference between a life lost and a life saved."
In 2012, Premier League
footballer Fabrice Muamba had his life saved with an AED when he
collapsed on the pitch at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane when his
Bolton team were playing Spurs in an FA Cup match.
08/02/13