First responders appear on Winning Streak
The life-saving work being done by local voluntary Wicklow group The Bray Cardiac First Responders was highlighted on Winning Streak on RTE One last Saturday.
Coordinator Marc Windsor said that the group decided to apply for National Lottery Good Causes funding in 2016 to place four additional public access defibrillators through the town in areas that weren’t covered. The group received €8,000 and already has three defibrillators in place. Marc feels that these have been a vital addition to the community of Bray, which has a population close to 35,000.
‘By giving early access to defibrillation, it increases the chance of survival of any person who enters cardiac arrest,’ he said.
Twenty-five of the volunteers are on-call responders with the National Ambulance Service answering calls for cardiac arrest, chest pain, choking, stroke and collapse. They aim to arrive to the patient before the ambulance and begin treating them while awaiting the paramedics.
Many people in Bray owe their lives to the first responder service, as they have attended dozens of NAS calls since they were established five years ago. A vital part of their work is running the Public Access Defibrillation scheme, which involves placing defibrillators in public locations around the town. The idea is that trained members of the public can use them if they come across someone in cardiac arrest.
Bray CFR has trained 800 members of the community in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillator use.