- Donations from school builder and pharmacy make purchase possible
- Pupils raise over £230 for cardiac charity
A newly-built Cambridgeshire primary school will have a life-saving defibrillator on site thanks to the generosity of two local sponsors and a national cardiac charity.
Isle of Ely Primary School on Cam Drive has been able to buy the expensive piece of equipment following donations from Waterbeach-based company Kier Construction, which is on site building the new school, and St Mary’s Pharmacy.
The new defibrillator was made possible by charity SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome) UK, which enabled the school to buy the equipment at a heavily discounted price.
After a cardiac arrest, every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces chance of survival by 10%. But having a defibrillator on hand could save someone’s life, by quickly delivering a high energy electric shock to restore a more stable heart rhythm.
Executive head teacher, Bryony Surtees, commented: “I’d like to thank Kier and St Mary’s Pharmacy on behalf of the teachers, parents and children of Isle of Ely Primary School for their kind support in sponsoring our new defibrillator.”
Dennis Cotton, Kier operations director, commented: “We are pleased that we are able to leave a lasting legacy after we hand over the completed project this spring. The new defibrillator will provide a medical safety net; we all hope that nobody will ever need to use it, but it will be reassuring for the children, staff and parents to know that the equipment is available, should they ever experience a medical emergency on the school grounds.”
SADS UK, which aims to save lives by funding research and medical equipment to prevent premature sudden cardiac death, will organise relevant training for staff at the school in the use of the defibrillator.
To thank the charity for helping them to buy the equipment, school pupils hosted a fundraising day for them, raising £232.45 by wearing red and hosting an art auction and a cake stall.
Anne Jolly, founder of SADS UK, commented: “We are grateful to the staff, parents and children at Isle of Ely Primary School for their hard work in raising awareness and fundraising. Due to the very kind sponsorships from Kier and St Mary’s Pharmacy we are delighted that the Isle of Ely Primary School will now benefit from the reassurance of having a defibrillator on their school premises.
“It is vital to have this lifesaving equipment in schools: using CPR alone provides a 5% chance of survival but early use of the defibrillator as well increases the chance of survival to over 50%.”
[jpshare]
