Life-saving equipment has been rolled out in Gloucestershire thanks to new community funding provided by the team behind the A417 Missing Link.
As well as providing money for local projects, National Highways’ social value fund is part of a wider commitment to give back to local areas and will provide public access defibrillators at four locations along the route.
Over £9,300 will provide local communities with four heated cabinets, defibrillators, insurance, bystander CPR & defibrillator training and registration with the national database (the Circuit). By installing such devices, it’s hoped that National Highways, Kier, Gloucestershire’s air ambulance - the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, and local communities can reduce the number of avoidable deaths; people like Sam Polledri.
At just 24 years old, Sam wasn’t given a fair chance when he fell in the centre of Bristol. There were 5 defibrillators around him, but none were available to members of the public.Louise Polledri, mum of Sam, said: “We, the ‘Sam Polledri Foundation’ are overwhelmed with the support from Kier Highways and National Highways and can’t thank them enough for their donation of four new public access Automatic External Defibrillators (AED’s) in Sam’s memory.
“It means so much to us all and I was honoured to officially unveil the first one being installed today at the Green Dragon in Cowley.
“Thank you so much to the team for all your support and kindness. Thank you for making a difference within these communities.”
Every year in the UK 30,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. For every minute that passes, a person's chance of survival goes down by 10%. Sadly, only 1 in 10 survive. Right now, fewer than 2% have a defibrillator used prior to the ambulance arriving. When CPR is combined with the use of a defibrillator at the scene, traffic officers can increase the chance of the patient surviving by up to 70%.
Will Barker, Assistant Project Manager on the A417 Missing Link Project, said: “We’ve always built value into every aspect of our network. From economic prosperity to preserving natural habitats, we know how important it is that we make a positive difference to the communities and the environment where we work.
“That’s why we’re delighted to be able to offer this genuinely life-saving equipment that can have such a profound impact on the local community and those who need it."This funding has been welcomed by a wide range of organisations. This is an opportunity to save lives, not only through road infrastructure improvements on the A417, but through improving defibrillator provision. Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) rapidly dispatch Critical Care Doctors and Specialist Paramedics to the scene of the most serious 999 calls. They fly or drive taking the skills and equipment of a hospital Emergency Department to the patient. GWAAC saves lives across Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and parts of Wiltshire.
GWAAC is called to more cardiac arrests than any other incident. In 2022, the crew responded to 506 cardiac arrest patients across all our regions, including 147 cardiac arrest patients in Gloucestershire - the highest number out of all the regions they serve.
Lisa Warrington, Defibrillator Coordinator, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Our public access defibrillator campaign is helping to reduce avoidable deaths; we want anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest to receive immediate CPR and then defibrillation within five minutes. “These four new defibrillators will give local people the best chance on their worst day, and we can’t thank Kier Highways and National Highways enough for making this happen.”
Gavin Jones, Kier Project Director for the A417, added: “The A417 project team are very proud to be involved in this amazing initiative with the Polledri family and Great Western Air Ambulance Charity. This is a vital step in improving the provision of defibrillators in the region. We are also looking forward to continuing our support into the future.”Earlier this month, the project team also donated a van to GWAAC, used to collect clothes, large items and pieces of furniture to sell in its new fundraising shop in Gloucester.
Jason Webster, Retail Manager, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, said: “The van, donated by Kier, will be a wonderful asset for the GWAAC charity shops.
“It means that for the first time ever we will be able to ensure we can move donated stock around the shops to maximise the income from the kindness of our supporters to keep our air ambulance and critical care service operational.”
Now other organisations are being encouraged to get in touch to find out more about how the fund can help them, whether they could benefit from a financial award, materials or volunteers to help complete a project.
People can email a417missinglinkatairballoon@nationalhighways.co.uk for more details.
Applications are welcome around the four themes of National Highways’ social value framework:
Economic prosperity
Improving the environment
Community wellbeing; and
Equality, diversity and inclusion
More information about these themes can be found on the National Highways social value webpage. To find out more about the Sam Polledri fund, you can visit the blog here https://greatwesternairambulance.com/launch-of-community-defibrillator-at-we-the-curious/ Similarly, if you, your business or organisation would like a defibrillator – please contact lisa.warrington@gwaac.com
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