Surf Life Savers dive into #Defibuary campaign

A GROUP of voluntary life savers are diving into support the Welsh Ambulance Service’s #Defibuary campaign and also boost the skills of their teams.

The Surf Life Saving Association Wales (SLSA Wales) have pledged to register all of their defibrillators on the UK national database The Circuit, so they are available for use by the public in an emergency 24/7 and also add extra defibrillation training to their existing first aid training package.

#Defibuary is an annual online drive that aims to familiarise the public with the symptoms of heart attack and cardiac arrest and how to treat these two different emergencies as well as boosting awareness of public access defibrillators and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

Chair of SLSA Wales Lifesaving Committee, Hugh Murray said: “Making our defibrillators available to the public and bolting on more defibrillator training to the National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification demonstrates our commitment to supporting the Welsh Ambulance Service and helping to save lives around the coast of Wales.

“A cardiac arrest can occur at any time without warning and we encourage all our members to engage in continuous first aid training to ensure our volunteers are always ready to respond in a medical emergency.

“We are backing the #Defibuary campaign this year as usual and would encourage all other community groups to follow suit throughout the year with checking and improving their life-saving abilities.”

Surf Life Saving originated in Australia in the early 1900s but was not introduced into Wales until the late 1950s and now sees clubs patrolling 30 beaches around Wales where paid-for lifeguards are not available.

The Welsh Ambulance Service works in conjunction with The Circuit to have access to a live database that is called upon to source the nearest available defibrillator in an emergency.

The Service currently has access to 6,047 registered public access defibrillators across the country and in emergency situations will direct a bystander to the nearest available resource.

Some 2,700 of these PADS are without a ‘Guardian’ or somebody who looks after and checks on the condition of them and carries out tasks such as changing the batteries and pads after use to ensure they are always ‘Rescue Ready’.

You can register to become a Guardian by visiting The Circuit defibrillator registration network.

A CPR and defibrillation training video has been produced by the Welsh Ambulance Service and can be viewed here on YouTube.

For more information on #Defibuary, email Fiona.Maclean@wales.nhs.uk