EUROSPAR Belmullet and EUROSPAR Swinford have launched a new community initiative defibrillator at every EUROSPAR supermarket, which aims to provide a life-saving defibrillator outside their stores.
RTÉ’s Michael Lyster was on hand to help launch the initiative this week at the Radisson Blu St Helen’s Hotel, Dublin with Malachy Hanberry, EUROSPAR managing director and David Menzies, co chair and medical director, Cardiac First Responders Ireland. Michael suffered a cardiac arrest in 2015 and had to be resuscitated by the National Ambulance Service using a defibrillator, so he fully understands the importance of publicly accessible defibrillators in our communities. He said, “I’m delighted to help launch the defibrillator at every EUROSPAR Supermarket initiative as this equipment can really mean the difference between life and death. Having a defibrillator in a public space raises the profile of heart disease and ensures that people know where to find one when an emergency occurs. I look forward to the day when each EUROSPAR has a defibrillator in place.”
When a heart stops beating from cardiac arrest every second counts. The chances of recovery are reduced by seven to ten per cent after each 60 seconds. Effective CPR coupled with the use of a defibrillator within the first three to five minutes of cardiac arrest can produce survival rates in the 49 per cent to 75 per cent range. This is the significance of the new defibrillator at every EUROSPAR Supermarket initiative for each community in Ireland served by a EUROSPAR Supermarket.
The defibrillator at every EUROSPAR Supermarket initiative will raise funds for the installation of a publically accessible, automatic external defibrillator (AED ) to be located outside of the EUROSPAR supermarket. Funds will be raised through in-store collection, community fundraising activities and contributions from the sale of a selection of SPAR Range products.
Annette Howard, EUROSPAR Belmullet and Derek Kennedy, EUROSPAR Swinford are delighted to launch the Defibrillator at every EUROSPAR Supermarket initiative in Mayo. In a joint statement they said: “Having a lifesaving defibrillator outside our stores and making everyone aware of it will hopefully result in saving lives in this community. I hope you will join with our teams in order to raise the funds needed to buy a defibrillator for our areas.”
According to Malachy Hanberry, EUROSPAR managing director, “EUROSPAR supermarkets are located at the heart of local communities. Therefore we wanted to come up with an initiative that looks after the wellbeing of the people in our communities and what better way than to install defibrillators outside our stores. EUROSPAR is focused, in a very tangible way, on helping to save lives in your local community.”
EUROSPAR in partnership with CFR Ireland will provide "chain of survival" awareness and CPR training in the local community as well as training for retailers and staff members. This training and awareness will be carried out by local Community First Responders to coincide with the installation of the AED at local stores.
Each AED is automated to produce a report tracking the status of the machine and highlighting any issues on a daily basis. It is EUROSPAR’s intention that each AED will be registered on the National Ambulance Service (NAS ), CFR Ireland and other local defibrillator databases.
