Blarney needs a publicly-accessible defibrillator and The Muskerry News’ campaign to raise funds for the installation of same has been a great success, with thanks to all whom have contributed. We have now purchased our defibrillator which will be placed in a secure external position in the village, and compliment those already in place at Blarney Woollen Mills, Blarney GAA, Scoil Mhuire gan Smal, Centra Tower and other locations throughout the area. The appliance can be used by all those who volunteer for training and provide recorded instruction to shock a heart back into rhythm before paramedics arrive, and classes have been held to teach volunteers how to use the equipment and about CPR. To date more than 45 community minded local people have been trained in CPR and use of our AED, organised by Deborah Lynch, a critical care nurse at CUH, and trained by Rebecca Forde, National Ambulance Service. Within the next few weeks we will be taking this service ‘live’ which will see the Blarney area become a dedicated First Responder Community. Our on call radius will extend 5km.
A committee, headed by Deborah Lynch, has been formed to organise our ongoing service and many thanks to those who have volunteered to give up their time to this ongoing commitment; Kate Durrant, Grainne McSweeney, Dr Una O’Halloran and Sergeant Aidan O’Connell.
Further training will continue to take place and if you would like to sign up for a subsidised four hour training session in the next few months please register your interest by emailing blarneyfirstresponders@eircom.net, by message through our facebook page Blarney Community First Responders. You can also call Deborah Lynch on 087 2817963 or Kate Durrant on 087 2330398 for more information.
Funds are still needed for equipment and training so if you would like to donate or help in any way please contact us.
Thanks again to all who have contributed and helped in any way, especially to Deborah Lynch for all her ongoing hard work, her work in our community will undoubtedly save lives.