Profits from Rescue Day 2017 have paid for eight Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) for the North Lincolnshire community and a Lucas Device for the EMAS Clinical Operations Manager’s Fast Response Vehicle which operates within the North Lincolnshire Area.
The annual Rescue Day was held last July at 7 Lakes Country Park in Crowle to showcase joint working between emergency and rescue services. This year's event takes place on Saturday 7 July - go to the official Rescue Day website for full details.
When someone goes into cardiac arrest and their heart stops beating their chances of survival increases with early Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), access to a defibrillator and medical intervention. Therefore, these eight new AEDs will save lives in the communities.
North Lincolnshire already has an extensive network of public access defibrillators which are available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
When a 999 call is made, if the patient is unconscious and not breathing, but within a 500m radius of a registered defibrillator, the caller will be directed to the defibrillator cabinet and given a code to access the machine.
The AED machine provides voice prompts and instructions to the user and can be operated by anybody, even with no training.
The Lucas is a mechanical CPR device that regulates and provides perfect chest compressions at the correct rhythm and depth. The machine attaches to the patient and allows medical staff on scene to provide advanced clinical life support whilst maintaining chest compressions.
Chris Long, Rescue Day Event Director and Duty Operations Manager for Lincolnshire said:
“Rescue Day is a non-profit making event where all contributions from the public are put back into the local community.
“This year it has been fantastic to be able to provide a Lucas device to EMAS and the people of North Lincolnshire as well as increasing our community public access defibrillators within the area.”
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service are receiving two AEDs to place on their fire stations for 24/7 public access.St John Ambulance are receiving four AEDs for their local vehicles, which provide medical support at local events and one AED is being donated to Gallows Wood, a recovery company in Scunthorpe who support Rescue Day yearly. Volkerail are donating their AED to a Blue Bell Wood, a children’s hospice in Sheffield.
On Thursday 5 April Chris Long demonstrated the Lucas device [pictured right] and then presented the AEDs to the recipients, including Volkerail, Humberside Fire and Rescue and St John’s Ambulance.