Helping to save lives
Defibrillators on the way
Riverside will soon be a safer place to be thanks to a scheme that started just 12 months ago.
In that time, a group of volunteers has raised £3500 towards the £4500 cost of equipping the housing scheme with three public access defibrillators.
The first has been installed outside the Riverbank Centre and is ready for action, and further defibrillators will be shortly sited at the Riverside shops and primary school.
Once the three devices are fitted and primed, there will be a defibrillator within sprinting distance of most areas of Riverside.
Defibrillators provide someone having a cardiac arrest with high energy electric shocks to the heart through the chest wall.
Group member Fiona Dyet, a trainer in food safety and first aid, said the devices could be used by people with little or no training, adding: “When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival falls by 10 per cent every minute without action.
“However, with CPR and the use of a defibrillator within three minutes, the chance of survival could be as high as 70 per cent.”
When fund-raising for the defibrillators started in December last year, there were 58 of the devices in premises across the Stirling area but not all were publicly accessible.
However, the group has managed to edge towards their cash target thanks to the generosity of residents and business in the area and the help of Stirling councillors and Riverside Community Council.
Apart from Fiona, key members of group are Marilyn Milligan, Alison Blennerhasset, Sheila Middleton, Isobel Miller, Alison Swanson, and Susan Dumbleton. Riverside community councillor Isabella Gorska has also provided assistance.
Defibrillators obtained by the group come from Lucky2BHere, the charity set up by Ross Cowie, a former shinty player and manager from Portree. He resolved to increase the provision of devices across Scotland after the equipment was used to save his life after when he suffered an unexpected cardiac arrest in 2006.
Two training sessions in the use of the Riverside defibrillators have taken place already and more are to be arranged, including one with teachers. Details of training sessions is advertised in shops and on the community council notice board. The group is keen to run ageappropriate training for children too.
Donations to the scheme can be made through shops in the area, directly to a member of the group or via https:// www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/riversidedefibrillator
Chance of survival could be as high as 70%