AED’s FOR THE COMMUNITY
GLYNNEATH COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS
£4,050 – MICRO FUND – FEB 2017
| The group started in 2014 as an unincorporated association and intended to place 3 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in cabinets in the Glynneath area. They are located outside the ‘Angel’ in Pontneddfechan, the ‘Lamb and Flag’ or Tesco in Glynneath, and the Sardis chapel in Resolven – all businesses gave consent. These are meant for public use and are vital in saving someone’s life when suffering a cardiac arrest. They are logged with ambulance service and locations given to a caller on phone. The Welsh Ambulance Service is a strong supporter of community AEDs. Every year in Wales 8,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest. Following a cardiac arrest, every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces survival chances by 10%. An AED will only work if the patient is in cardiac arrest – it won’t deliver a shock if the heart rate is normal. This was a clear and well-presented application and could contribute to saving lives in the upper Neath Valley.
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“Since fitting these AEDs we have had a lot of public interest in what we as community first responders do and has resulted in applications to join us. Out of the three installed, 2 have been used (1 used twice) and so they have made a real difference in our community in people’s time of need. The community benefits as do we by raising our profile, we have been very pleased with comments by the public on how happy and reassured they feel, having these life saving AEDs available in their communities.” Carl Hamer
Since the grant the group have raised public knowledge of what they do and are holding a series of training sessions across the area, are developing training booklets and have had donations. We were pleased to support installation in these areas as strong group looking after them.
