Lifesaving defibrillator fundraiser in Kirkwall

A fundraising and potentially lifesaving event set to benefit the British Heart Foundation, and the wider Orkney public, is to take place in Kirkwall on Saturday, involving various uniformed organisations.

The event is set to take place at the Kirkwall Tesco store between 12-4pm, and in attendance will be Police, Ambulance and Fire personnel in addition to cadets from 1769 Detached Flight Air Training Core.

PC Hugh Moonie from Kirkwall Police Station explained that Police in Kirkwall have been awarded a grant by the BHF to provide a Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) which will be situated in the entrance foyer to the Police Station.

He said that as the station is open between 7am to midnight daily, this seems to be an ideal location for the PAD, giving easy access to the community to take and use it should it be required.

He added: “The PAD is an expensive piece of potentially life saving equipment so the aim of the event is to raise funds to pay for it.

“In addition to this we will be raising awareness of CPR and CPR training offered by the BHF utilising the Call Push Rescue training kit. As 80% of cardiac arrest incidents happen within the home, early CPR is seen as a life saving skill and as such the aim is to raise awareness of the training on offer.”

He went on to explain: “Emergency service personnel are in attendance with the intention of speaking to members of the public about CPR and the training offered by the BHF and fire service. Our intention is to give demonstrations on CPR and allow members of the public to ‘have a go’.

“The aim here is to generate interest in attendance at the training with names and telephone numbers being taken to arrange training at a future date. The emphasis is on showing that CPR is a life saving skill and the training is readily available in Orkney.”

The Air Cadets will be responsible for fundraising at the event. Cadets will be bag packing, selling raffle tickets, and running a dexterity challenge with a prize for the fastest time.  Prizes for the raffle have been very kindly donated by generous retailers in Kirkwall.