Shopping just got safer in Shrewsbury
If you're going to have a heart attack then one of the safest places is a busy shopping centre like the Darwin and Pride Hill Centres in Shrewsbury.
Security staff there have just completed their training in the use of defibrillators – electric shock machines – and in giving CPR – cardio-pulmonary resuscitation – to cardiac arrest victims.
"We have defibrillators in both the Darwin and Pride Hill Centres and thankfully I have never had to use them and I hope I don't but if something happens then I'll know what to do.
"We're all first aid trained as well so if someone does have a problem we can be at their side in seconds and we've got the equipment here to make a difference."
"We teach people like the staff at the Darwin and Pride Hill Centres basic procedures. They are simple, effective – and they work.
"What we teach is how to manage a person who's collapsed, how to do oxygen therapy and how to use a defibrillator.
"We can teach people to use a defibrillator safely in very short time. The technology has come on in leaps and bounds so you don't require any specialist skills and knowledge - the machine will do the job for you.
"People normally don't die of a cut finger or a broken leg but you will die if your heart stops and the patient left with no immediate intervention. It's as simple as that.
"What we are aiming to achieve is to have people who will feel comfortable and confident to deliver what is a real life-saving skill."
-- Yoland Brown Brownhill House B&B, Ruyton XI Towns, nr. Shrewsbury SY4 1LR ShACC - Shropshire Alternative Car Club www.eleventowns.co.uk www.eleventowns.com www.ShACC-uk.org Tel: 01939 261 121 Fax: 01939 260626 Yo's blog: http://yo-emails.blogspot.co.uk
