A new community defibrillator has been installed outside Baylin National School.
The defibrillator has been installed in a custom designed box with a security keypad which can be opened 24-hours a day.
To access the defibrillator in times of emergency, one needs to ring the 999 or 112 emergency number and quote the defibrillator code, which is written on the outside of the box. The operator will then give the security code to open the box.
This new outdoor box ensures that this vital piece of equipment is now available at all times to the whole community in case of emergency. The box contains a light and a temperature stat to ensure that the battery on the defibrillator is not adversely affected by extreme weather. It was installed by David McGovern of DMG Electrical free of charge.
The defibrillator has been located internally in Baylin National School for the past nine years after been generously donated by the Tony Parker Memorial Fund. To date they have donated more than 100 defibrillators to local schools, clubs and communities, financed by various fundraising events.
The Baylin Development & Residents Association applied for funding to Westmeath County Council through the 2017 Community Facilities Services Scheme, from which they received a €500 grant towards the new box. The Baylin group funded the remaining cost of the box themselves.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Frankie Keena, who liaised with the council on this matter, thanked everyone involved in making this AED available to the wider public.
“It is a community initiative to help people in times of emergency,” he commented.
