Burpham Gets Its First Public Access Defibrillator

Published on: 17 Apr, 2022
Updated on: 21 Apr, 2022

Burpham Community Association (BCA) has raised more than £6,000 for the community’s first public access defibrillator.

Unveiled on April 7, it is at the Aldi store on London Road.

At the unveiling of Burpham’s first public access defibrillator, from left: Andy Clapham, who chairs the Burpham Community Association (BCA); Cllr George Potter (Lib Dem, Burpham); Sue Poole, BCA; Aldi’s assistant store manager Hal Hornsby-King; Lyak Rahman, the owner of the Rajdoot restaurant; and Alex Donaldson, BCA.

The association plans to install a second defibrillator in the Sutherland Memorial Park with accessible to bowls, football, cricket, tennis players and others who use the park.

It said many members of the public have generously donated to the campaign. Contributions have included those from Surrey County Council through Cllr George Potter’s community budget, the Rajdoot restaurant, Burpham Bowling Club, Burpham Junior and Senior Football Clubs, Guildford City Cricket Youth Project, Burpham Women’s Institute and the Guildford Lions Club.

It also thanked Aldi for being “so helpful”. Aldi’s maintenance contractor, Dance & Dean, fitted the unit free of charge as one of its colleagues had passed away from heart failure and the firm wanted to help The Community Heartbeat Trust by donating its time and resources to the project.

A press release from the community association stated: “As far as we are aware, no defibrillators were previously available for public use in Burpham.

The Community Heartbeat Trust is a charity that supports communities in the correct provision of defibrillators. So far, some 7,000 communities have benefitted from their help.

It is said around 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest each year in the UK. Almost all are fatal unless treated with CPR and defibrillation within minutes. With prompt treatment, the survival rate can be raised from under 5% to over 70%.

Sudden cardiac arrest is an electrical malfunction of the heart where the heart stops pumping blood due to an abnormal rhythm known as an arrythmia. Consequently, the blood supply to other vital organs such as the liver, brain and lungs is greatly reduced. This is what happened to Christian Eriksen during last year’s European Football Championship.

A defibrillator is designed to provide an electrical shock to attempt to revert the heart to a normal electrical rhythm. It does this by stopping the heart momentarily and allowing it to restart on its own.

The association said it is discussion with Guildford Borough Council concerning a licence that is required before a unit can be installed in Sutherland Memorial Park. It hopes the matter will be resolved within a matter of weeks.