Defibrillator and Bleed Kit ~ Tim Harris
As many of you will have already noticed, we now have both a defibrillator and bleed kit available, installed on the wall of the Church Centre. There was an article in the St. Luke’s News on 23rd April with links to sites explaining the use of these life-saving pieces of equipment. The links are attached again today.
Why do we have these items of equipment?
The use of both the defibrillator and bleed kit can be life-saving in an emergency whilst awaiting the arrival of emergency services. Their use should not delay calling for an ambulance.
The Church and Church Centre are visited by large numbers of people throughout the week and this equipment is available to anybody in need, including passers-by or anybody in the proximity of the Church.
Cardiac collapse or severe bleeding are both situations in which time is of vital importance – every minute counts.
How is the equipment accessed?
The bleed kit is in an unlocked cabinet and can be easily accessed in an emergency.
The defibrillator is in a locked cabinet requiring a code. The code is available on the notice board in the Church Office or on the board within the Church Centre Kitchen but is obtainable by anybody without access to these sites by following the instructions on the cabinet - essentially phoning 999.
What next?
Once 999 has been called, they will talk you through what to do next. They will advise on CPR and how to use the defibrillator. As the defibrillator is fully automatic it will guide users through the process advising on how to use the equipment safely.
Can anybody use the equipment?
The bleed kit is relatively simple to use – please watch the videos on the link – but the emergency services will talk it through with the person making the emergency call, requesting an ambulance.
The defibrillator is fully automatic and is designed to be used by both trained and untrained personnel and itself issues audible instructions – but do look at the training video on the attached link.
Training aids available
Do look at the attached links which:
- give information on learning about CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) in a ‘15 minutes’ on-line training
https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr/learn-cpr-in-
- advice on how to use the Bleed Control Kit