Defibrillator from GAA club saves a life

LITTLE did the committee of Glen Emmets GFC know that when they took the decision to house their newly acquired defibrillator outside their clubhouse, less than six months later it would be used to save a life.

During a training session last Saturday at the Tullyallen club, a local farmer was taken ill at his home, and the equipment was taken back to the farm, where it was used to resuscitate the man.

Club PRO Cariona Tuite takes up the story.

“The man suffered a heart attack at his farm, and someone with him knew there was a defibrillator available for use outside of the club and was able to take it back and save his life,” she explains.

“Thankfully, the farmer made a full recovery and is now being looked after in hospital.”

Cariona says the outcome was a very rewarding response to their decision to move the equipment outside.

“Our defibrillator was only moved to an outside location in April to make it more accessible in an emergency, and even though we knew there could be a danger of it being vandalised, we took the chance and thank goodness we did,” she adds.

“To move it outside it needs to be stored in a heated compartment, and we purchased this with funds raised from our 5K run in April...... and aren’t we glad we did now! We are very lucky, as a community, that we now have a defibrillator at either end of the village and also one in the school.”

Many members of the club have been trained in the use of the life-saving equipment, but Cariona says it is a very simple process and anyone can do it.

“We were lucky on the day to have our Health & Well-being officer Trish Reilly here, and her husband Alan O’Reilly is a paramedic and went to the farm to assist,” she explains.

“However, the instructions are very clear to use, and we will continue to house it on the north wall of our clubhouse, facing the car park, should it ever be needed by a member of our community again.”