Defibrillator competition winner announced

Rod Cape, First Responder, Chain of Survival Team NWAS; Kirsty Rhodes, CEO, Women’s Housing Action Group; Councillor Janet Emsley and Lisa Kimpton, Health Connections Team Co-Ordinator, Rochdale Council

The Women’s Housing Action Group (WHAG) has won a competition to receive a new lifesaving defibrillator machine.

The charitable organisation is the winner of £2,000 worth of lifesaving equipment donated by Rochdale Borough Council’s public health team and the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).

Their Rose Court venue was deemed the best from 20 entries and has now been given a brand new defibrillator in a secure, external cabinet.

The new defibrillator and external cabinet will now be installed at Rose Court, so ambulance service operators can direct callers to it if someone suffers a cardiac arrest. The defibrillator can then be used on the person before medical help arrives, increasing their chances of survival.

Staff at WHAG will also receive CPR and defibrillator training from the Rochdale Council’s Cardiac Smart Gold award-winning public health team as part of the prize.

Councillor Janet Emsley, Rochdale Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing, said: “It makes me very proud to know that so many of our borough’s organisations take their contribution to our communities’ safety so seriously.

"I was very pleased to award the defibrillator to the Women’s Housing Action Group because it is in such a highly-populated residential area.

"About 80 per cent of cardiac arrests happen in the home so I know that WHAG’s local community will be well served and a much safer place to live.”

Kirsty Rhodes, CEO of Women’s Housing Action Group said: “We are thrilled; it is a great addition for WHAG but also the wider community.

"All our staff have first aid training but this additional training will make a real difference and make the staff more confident.

"We’d like to say a big thank you to Rochdale Council and the North West Ambulance Service.”

North West Ambulance Service Community Engagement Manager, Andy Redgrave, said: “A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone – young or old, at any time and the use of a defibrillator within the first few minutes, while professional help is on the way, can improve the chances of survival by up to 70 per cent.

"The response from the public and local organisations in Rochdale has already been absolutely fantastic and we are excited about the opportunity to work with the borough again to install another defibrillator and potentially save more lives.”

The defibrillator is the last of 20 donated by Rochdale Council’s public health team. A full list will be available in the next few weeks.