Club’s life-saver
POTENTIALLY lifesaving equipment has been installed at Accrington Stanley Community Trust’s (ASCT) new Sports Hub.
A public access defibrillator (PAD) has been installed at Thorneyholme Road, part-funded by £1,250 from the Trust.
They have also been awarded a CPR training kit by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) following their successful application for a Nation of Lifesavers Community Package from the charity.
The Community Package includes the “watch and learn” Call Push Rescue training kit which has everything needed to learn CPR and defibrillator awareness in half an hour.
ASCT will soon be running training sessions in the community meaning everyone can become potential life savers.
A training schedule will be announced shortly after the Stanley Sports Hub building opens in March 2020.
The defibrillator is a portable device that can be used by anyone to help restart the heart when someone has a cardiac arrest. This is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body and they lose consciousness almost at once. For every minute that passes without defibrillation and CPR, chances of survival decrease by around ten per cent.
Martin Fearon, CEO at Accrington Stanley Community Trust, said: “We have contributed a sum of money to help fund this lifesaving package.
“We want to get as many people as possible trained in CPR and defibrillator awareness over the coming years. The defibrillator will be placed at the entrance to our new 3G pitch on Thorneyholme Road, meaning that people in our local community have the best chance of survival should they suffer a cardiac arrest.
“We also have a large volume of people visiting our new Stanley Sports Hub facility, as well as over 1,000 people per week using the new pitch, therefore we wanted to ensure we go the extra mile by providing this lifesaving piece of equipment for our community.”
Sarah Forsey, Survival Manager at the British Heart Foundation, said: “We are delighted that Accrington Stanley Community Trust have joined BHF’s Nation of Lifesavers – by making another public access defibrillator available in Accrington and teaching CPR locally. It could really make the difference between life and death.”
ACCRINGTON Stanley Community Trust hosts friendly, over-35s football sessions every week.
Drop-in and play every Wednesday from 7.30pm to 8.30pm at St Christopher’s High School, Accrington - call 01254 304071 for more information.