You may remember that we told you about the St John and the City public access defibrillator project last August?
We met @LordProvostEdin earlier with Mark and Lynn Cleal to talk about @SJohnAndTheCity + the defibrillator project pic.twitter.com/xkdPeKohW1
— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) August 31, 2016
It is a bit of a mouthful but its aim is very clear – to introduce the life-saving device at tram stops across Edinburgh. They had first of all proposed putting them at the stops but the red tape around that, given the complicated ownership of trams and the tram stops, has meant that an even better solution has been found.
The defibrillators are now installed on the trams themselves.
Today at the Tram Depot The St John and the City team, along with representatives from Edinburgh Trams, are to be joined by various ‘donor’ businesses who have provided funding for the defibrillators.
Edinburgh’s Lord Provost the Rt Hon Donald Wilson has been right behind the scheme along with Lynn Cleal Fundraiser for St John Edinburgh.
The Lord Provost said: “By fundraising and working together, we have made great strides increasing people’s awareness of the need for defibrillators and the provision of these incredible devices in Edinburgh.
“Nobody in Edinburgh should need to think twice before using a defibrillator in an emergency which is why I am delighted St John and the City will be offering advice and training to tram staff. Not only can the machines help passengers in need, they can be taken off the carriage and used at tram stations.”
These will be used if a tram passenger takes unwell, but of course the life saving equipment may be called into use if someone in the vicinity requires it.
Businesses – or donors – who have provided the necessary funding for the defibrillators on Edinburgh’s trams include Royal Bank of Scotland, Virgin Money, Montague Evans, Charlie Miller, GLM, Phillips and Laerdal, and Newtyne Consultancy and Training. Donations from the public and money raised through St John Scotland’s Edinburgh fundraising events also contributed towards the defibrillators.
Lynn Cleal, Fundraiser of the St John Scotland Edinburgh committee said: We are delighted to bring together the Donor businesses with Edinburgh Trams to install these lifesaving defibrillators. The St John and the City project is committed to making defibrillators more accessible to members of the public and as they will now be on every tram, we hope that they will be able to save more lives in Edinburgh.”
Public access defibrillators are expensive, with a defibrillator and protective box costing around £1,500, but the easy-to-use units can prove vital in the event of someone suffering a cardiac arrest.
St John Scotland has been involved in a similar scheme with Network Rail installing four defibrillators at Waverley Station where they have been used four times and twice in the case of a heart attack.
For more information about the St John and the City project, visit www.stjohnandthecity.org.uk.
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
