Defibrillators arrive at Arriva London
August 9th 2007 Public transport company Arriva London has taken delivery of 16 new HeartStart First Aid Defibrillators from Laerdal Medical.
The compact, life-saving machines are deployed in each of Arriva’s London garages for use in the event of staff, visitors or customers suffering a sudden cardiac arrest in the vicinity.
Danny Collins, Arriva’s premises and services manager for the London area, and first aider at Arriva’s Head Office in Wood Green, North London, initiated the defibrillator scheme.
“As a result of a tragedy in which a visitor in his mid 30’s went into sudden cardiac arrest in the Head Office car park and subsequently died, we devised a scheme to purchase one Laerdal Heartstart defibrillator for Head Office to start with and then, with the support of Arriva's directors, deploy defibrillators at all of Arriva’s London sites. We have now installed the defibrillators and have trained first aiders to be competent in the use of a defibrillator,” said Danny.
As part of the defibrillator selection process, Danny enlisted the help of Laerdal Medical – the company that supplies defibrillators to London Ambulance Service for its front-line emergency response vehicles.
Michaela Parker, Laerdal’s Southern Sales Manager explained, “Heart disease is still the main cause of death in the UK, accounting for over a third of mortalities each year. In 80% of sudden cardiac arrests, the heart simply loses its natural rhythm and goes into “fibrillation” (quivers).
"Defibrillation – a shock through the heart via a defibrillator - is the only treatment that can reverse this condition, and restore the heart into a regular beating pattern. If defibrillation and CPR are administered within 2-3 minutes, the patient stands a 50% better chance of survival. CPR alone is not enough. Every minute counts. Without defibrillation, this chance of survival decreases by at least 10% per minute, hence the average UK out-of-hospital survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest is only around 5%.
“The more people who are trained in CPR and defibrillation, the better the chances of increasing the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest.”
Danny continued, “Michaela advised us on the latest resuscitation guidelines, provided a wealth of technical information and suggested the most suitable defibrillator for use by First Aiders – the aptly named HeartStart First Aid Defibrillator.”
After Arriva had placed an order for 16 units, Danny underwent a day’s training, which certified him to train others on a cascade basis.
“The HeartStart First Aid Defibrillator is fully automatic and completely safe to use, so training other First Aiders is simple. The machine first assesses the patient via electronic pads placed on the chest and if a shock is necessary, the machine literally talks you through each step of the way. For instance, it tells you to remove the patient’s clothing, place the pads on their chest according to the diagrams, tells you when it is assessing the patient and then if a shock is required, it asks you to press the shock button and stand back. It continues to assess the rhythm of the patient’s heart and advise treatment until professional help arrives.
"Through following its instructions, you can concentrate on your actions and remember your training in a calm and efficient manner. The defibrillators are an extremely worthwhile investment, for peace of mind that we are prepared for an emergency and can help save a life if the situation arises.”
For more information on Laerdal’s range of HeartStart defibrillators, just  click here.
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