This article is from page 26 of the 2008-01-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
THE positive response to the pur- chase of a defibrillator for Newmar- ket-on-Fergus has opened up the possibility of a second one being PYOe LUNN KSxOE
The village’s first defibrillator – which provides assistance to those who collapse due to cardiac arrest – was bought last September and a team of 15 people have been avail- able to operate it, on a rota basis.
While it has not yet been called
into use, the organising committee is delighted to have acquired it and are now looking at possibly buying a second one.
In conjunction with the purchase of the defibrillator, a local branch of the Irish Red Cross was set up in the village, through which those on the rota were trained. Chairwoman of the committee Mary Woods said the current system is working well.
“It has been so far so good. The person who is on duty holds it in his/ her home and is ready to go imme-
diately if a call comes in,” said Ms Woods.
“People are very positive about it being there and people realise the value of it. Its success depends on people knowing about it. If they don’t know it’s there, it is not going to be able to access the service.
‘There has been no actual require- ment for it, which is what you want in one way. Hopefully it will be suc- cessful if it’s needed,’ she added.
A churchgate collection will take place in churches in the Newmar-
ket-on-Fergus area this weekend. The proceeds of this will go towards retraining the committee members, along with possibly purchasing a second defibrillator.
While the first defibrillator was purchased by Obair and the training provided by the Red Cross, the cost of a second one would be in the re- gion of €3,000.
“The churchgate collection money will go towards funding the future development of the project,’ said Ms Woods.