Rochdale Judo Club raising money for public access defibrillator

Defibrillator

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Rochdale Judo Club’s junior and senior members are hoping to raise as much money as possible on Sunday (7 June), so they can provide and house a public access defibrillator.

The club has already secured the defibrillator with the help of Rochdale Council and the North West Ambulance service, but need to raise funds to provide a secure cabinet to house the defibrillator.

Rod Cape from Rochdale Judo Club said: “We have been able to secure the funding for the defibrillator from Rochdale Council and with the help of the North West Ambulance service, so now we need to raise the money to secure the defibrillator. We are looking at around £600 for that because the cabinet needs to be locked and secure.”

The club is also hoping to raise funds to buy a training defibrillator and mannequins so training can be provided to the local community and businesses.

Rod, who is a Greater Manchester First Responder for the North West Ambulance Service added: “With the training equipment, we would be able to provide CPR training to members of the local community and businesses who want it so that if they are in a scenario where they need that training, then they have it.”

To raise the money the club will be holding an ‘Uchi-Komi-a-thon’ on Sunday at their premises on Trafalgar Street. The event will see junior and senior members compete to see who can do the most ‘Uchi-Komi’s’ in a set time. Uchi-Komi refers to the repeated practice of a throwing motion, up to the point where the throw would actually be executed.

Rod added: “It’s going to be a fantastic event and we are all looking forward to it. We have had support from Liz McInnes [Heywood and Middleton MP] and a lot of support from the Judo world including Kelly Edwards and Kate Howey MBE. We are also hoping for some local judo talents to come along on the day, such as Simon Jackson MBE, who was trained by our head coach Warren Schofield.”

Defibrillators are effective if used immediately after a person suffers a cardiac arrest. The heart needs to be shocked back into a normal rhythm as soon as possible to prevent oxygen starvation of the brain.

For every minute spent without the application of a defibrillator, the patient’s chances of survival are reduced by 10%. Anyone can use a defibrillator without any training.

The defibrillator would be located outside of Rochdale Judo Club’s premises in a secure and coded cabinet. This way, if a member of the local community rings 999 and should need the defibrillator, the ambulance service will provide the code for opening the cabinet and the caller can take the defibrillator to use on the patient.