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Swindon Supermarine’s latest acquisition could be the most important signing the club ever makes after the Webbswood Stadium was fully equipped with a life-saving defibrillator.
Thanks to a partnership between The Football Association (FA) and The British Heart Foundation (BHF), Swindon Supermarine Football Club now has a defibrillator on site.
Swindon Supermarine’s defibrillator is just one of more than 900 which have been made available to football clubs in the National League System and Women’s Super League to help prevent lives being needlessly lost following a cardiac arrest.
Over 30,000 cardiac arrests happen out of hospital in the UK every year but currently less than one in 10 people survive.
The British Heart Foundation say many more lives can be saved through creating a Nation of Lifesavers by equipping people with the skills and confidence to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.
Swindon Supermarine Chairman Jez Webb is delighted that the club has made such an important move which could one day save someone’s life.
“This vital piece of equipment could prove to be the difference between life and death and it’s a welcome addition to our club and its community,” said Webb.
“The FA and BHF have made it possible for Swindon Supermarine FC to become part of the Nation of Lifesavers which aims to improve the UK’s poor cardiac arrest survival rates.
“Along with performing CPR, a defibrillator is a vital step that can increase a person’s chance of survival and we’re lucky that we now have the skills and equipment at the club to help save a life.”
The club was also given information about the British Heart Foundation’s Call Push Rescue training kit which includes everything needed to learn CPR in less than half an hour.
Two thirds of the cost of the defibrillator was provided to the club by The FA and BHF.
Awareness around sudden cardiac arrests was heightened when former England Under-21 star Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch at White Hart Lane in March 2012.
Muamba lent his support to the BHF’s Nation of Lifesavers campaign earlier this year, which calls for all young people to be taught lifesaving CPR skills and defibrillator awareness at secondary schools.
When someone suffers a cardiac arrest their heart stops pumping blood around the body. They stop breathing or do not breath normally, they lose consciousness and there are no signs of life.
If you see this happen you must call 999 and start CPR immediately. A defibrillator, also known as a Public Access Defibrillator or PAD, gives the heart a controlled electrical shock during cardiac arrest.
This can, in some circumstances, shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.
For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, chances of survival decrease by around ten percent. So it is really important supporters and staff at Swindon Supermarine know both these vital steps to help someone in an emergency.
The British Heart Foundation has already helped place 13,000 defibrillators in communities around the UK.
Clubs can find out more information by visiting www.bhf.org.uk/football
