Thursday 12th June 2014 – 4pm – Chris Kowalik.
ASDA in Hereford has become the first of the supermarket chain’s stores in Herefordshire and Worcestershire to be fitted with lifesaving equipment.
Defibrillators are being installed in all of ASDA’s stores throughout the country in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation. On Wednesday 11th June it was the turn of the superstore in Hereford where 14 members of staff were trained in its use by West Midlands Ambulance Service.
The machine, which can restart the heart of someone who suffers a cardiac arrest, will be placed in four other stores in the two counties over the next fortnight and West Midlands Ambulance Service will be training their staff.
June Thurston, Community Life Champion at ASDA in Belmont, explained that their defibrillator has been given a name: “His name is Frank because frankly he is going to save lives!” Listen to June here:
Noel Orbell, West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Community Response Manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “It is a lifesaver. When the patient hits the ground they have an eighty per cent chance of survival with a defibrillator as long as we can get there within the first two minutes. For each minute that goes by the chance of survival diminishes. Having June and other first-aiders at the store, the patient’s chance of survival will be greatly increased.” Listen to Noel here:
Ends
Note to Editors:
Pictures and audio recordings of interviews with June Thurston and Noel Orbell can be found and downloaded from www.officialwmas.wordpress.com
Other stores due to receive defibrillators and training are: Bromsgrove (completed today, June 12th), Pershore, Worcester and Kidderminster.