World Heart Month: Saving Lives with Defibrillators
This article will take approximately 2 minutes to read
Published 13 Feb 2024 in Raising Awareness
February is World Heart Month so today we’re looking at how our defibrillator project has progressed in the last 12 months. A big thank you to all the colleagues involved in making this happen and helping to save lives.
Store colleagues: spend 15 minutes and save a life
To make sure the life-saving defibs at our stores are always ready to be used, colleagues now need to do their checks each week.
Don’t forget, checks only take 15 minutes and you can use your 22.5 (pro rata) volunteering hours to do them.
This is so important, so if you are a checker, please make sure you’re checking the equipment each week!
A new defib for Abbey Farm
Our Abbey Farm store in Swindon has just had a defibrillator fitted after the Swindon Regional Community team worked with the local community to raise enough money to have it fitted – a great example of doing good together.
The local Lions group, pictured here with store colleagues and the Swindon Regional Community ambassadors Adam Quinton and Sian Lewis, kindly donated £1,000 towards the life-saving equipment.
The brand new defibrillator at Abbey Farm Food store
Hats off to Christine
Last year, we ran a story about our remarkable colleague Christine Morgan from our Moreton-in-Marsh store and the fundraising she had been doing for defibs with the support of her colleagues.
Her amazing head-shaving and hair-dyeing efforts have meant that we still have money in the pot for the Cotswold area. This money (just over £1,000) will be used to upgrade existing council-owned equipment in Upper Rissington.
Want to know how to use a defib?
Join our online training session! On Thursday 15th February, 6pm-8pm we’ll be hosting our first CARS (Community Awareness Raising Seminar) training session of 2024 via Zoom.
Run by our defib charity partners, the Community Heartbeat Trust, the session will show you what to do if you think someone is having a cardiac arrest, how to do chest compressions and how to use a defib.
Book your place here.
The video will give you a taste of what you’ll learn.