|
NWAS "SHOCKED" AT
'SHOCTOBER' SUCCESS |
THE North West Ambulance Service's
social media sites have gone into meltdown since launching its
'Shoctober' campaign on 1 October 2015.
The campaign's hashtag #findthedefib has been 'tweeted' over
2,000 times and the Trust received details of more than 250 defibrillator
locations which are being checked against its records, to ensure 999 callers
can be directed to the nearest one in the event of a cardiac arrest.
MPs, schools, gyms, youth groups, Fire Services, Police Officers, sports
teams, the AA, supermarkets and business owners have all risen to the
challenge to find the defib and their efforts are showing no signs of
slowing down as the campaign continues throughout October 2015.
NWAS Community Engagement Manager, Andy Redgrave comments:- "We
thought we may get a few pictures of forgotten defibrillators but we never
imagined the response from the public would be so great. In the first week
alone we learnt of least 40 defibrillator locations that we weren't aware of
previously, we're currently checking the others we have been told about so
as the month goes on, we hope to increase this further. The Trust is
extremely grateful for the support shown by the public, we've even had
pictures from Florida, Hong Kong, Spain and Amsterdam! It's heartening to
learn that all these people know the importance of having a defibrillator in
public places. A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone; young or old, at any
time and the use of a defibrillator within the 1st few minutes, while help
is on the way, can improve the chances of survival by up to 70%. Please keep
those selfies coming. In some way, everyone who sends us a picture with
location details is contributing to saving the life of someone in their
community."
It's estimated that there are thousands of these life saving portable
machines in the North West which NWAS doesn't know about so if someone
calls:- 999 in the event of a cardiac arrest, the Trust can't direct them to
the nearest 1.
AEDs are small machines which can 'shock' a person's heart
into restarting. They are easy to use, easy to carry and as they talks
through the process, they won't deliver a shoc unless it is required. There
is no clinical training required to be able to use the machine. Last year,
the Trust attended 13,636 suspected cardiac arrest incidents in the region
and this number increases year on year.
The Trust knows that many large business such as hotel chains, factories,
shopping centres and smaller organisations such as social and sports clubs
raise funds and install AEDs and is asking the public to 'find the defib'
and let NWAS know.
The location of AEDs can sometimes be marked with a sign showing a white
heart on a green background, or they could just be mounted on a wall behind
bars, in corridors, gyms, leisure centres, offices, tourist attractions,
schools, colleges, restaurants, coffee shops; anywhere at all!
If you see one, take a selfie with it and you can either tweet the photo via
@NWambulance using the hashtag #findthedefib, giving as much information as
possible regarding its location. Or, send the photo via North West Ambulance
Service's Facebook page or email:-
nwasenquiries@nwas.nhs.uk if you don't want to send a photo,
just mail the location details and NWAS will make sure the device is logged
on the system and ready to use in the event of an emergency.
Cardiac Arrest Attendances per county covered by NWAS 2014/15:-
Cheshire - 2,127
Cumbria - 883
Lancashire - 2,762
Merseyside - 2,376
Greater Manchester - 5,488
|
