New defibrillator for Carrowmenagh Community Centre

A new defibrillator has been installed at Carrowmenagh Community Centre for the use of local residents and visitors to Carrowmenagh and surrounding areas.

This has been made possible with the aid of funding from Donegal County Councils Small Capital Grants Fund.

In addition, in partnership with the Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB) 14 local people have taken part this week in the PHECC accredited Cardiac First Response Training Programme. This training was delivered onsite at Carrowmenagh Community Centre by four tutors from the Inishowen Branch of the Red Cross.

The defibrillator is a portable, simple to use computerised device. When someone suffers a sudden cardiac arrest, it delivers a shock to the heart to allow it to resume its normal rhythm.

The device will be stored in a locked, temperature-controlled cabinet on the left-hand side of the building.

The defibrillator can be used without training by members of the public as they can be guided on how to deliver effective CPR over the phone by the HSE National Ambulance Service 112/999 team.

The defibrillator at Carrowmenagh Community Centre has been registered with the National Ambulance Service, meaning that its location will be shared with a caller should they need it for a cardiac arrest situation. The ambulance service will also share the code for opening the cabinet with the caller.

According to Irishheart.ie there are approximately 3000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in Ireland and 9% of these occur in people under the age of 35. Knowing this facility is installed at the Community Centre should bring peace of mind to all centre users, residents and visitors to the area.

Anne Marie Quigley, the centre's administrator said: “Research shows that when someone is in cardiac arrest, early CPR and the use of a defibrillator/AED gives them the best chance of survival. Having our own defibrillator in Carrowmenagh is essential in this regard.”