Meade puts heart into lifesaving campaign

Banbridge '˜mentalist' David Meade had lent his support to a fundraising and awareness campaign to get over 300 new defibrillators installed across Northern Ireland.
Dr Michael McBride helped launch the Heart of our Community campaign in October last year with Bronagh Luke and Paddy Doody from the Henderson Group, owners of SPAR, EUROSPAR and VIVO in Northern Ireland. Now in its final stages to get 300 defibrillators installed across the country, David Meade has put his heart into the campaign with an awareness and fundraising video.Dr Michael McBride helped launch the Heart of our Community campaign in October last year with Bronagh Luke and Paddy Doody from the Henderson Group, owners of SPAR, EUROSPAR and VIVO in Northern Ireland. Now in its final stages to get 300 defibrillators installed across the country, David Meade has put his heart into the campaign with an awareness and fundraising video.
Dr Michael McBride helped launch the Heart of our Community campaign in October last year with Bronagh Luke and Paddy Doody from the Henderson Group, owners of SPAR, EUROSPAR and VIVO in Northern Ireland. Now in its final stages to get 300 defibrillators installed across the country, David Meade has put his heart into the campaign with an awareness and fundraising video.

Henderson Group’s Heart of our Community campaign will see the installation of the devices outside their SPAR, EUROSPAR and VIVO stores here this year.

The well-known mind reader from Banbridge explained that over 1,400 cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals in Northern Ireland ever year, and the public should be making moves to learn simple life saving skills including CPR that could help save lives.

He said: “It has been proven that CPR and the use of a defibrillator can dramatically improve the likeliehood of survival in one of those circumstances. If you are faced with cardiac arrest at home, at work or somewhere outside few things are more important than first off, initiating CPR but also having access to a ready, working defibrillatorbut the turth of the matter is in Northern Ireland they are few and far between, particularly in rural areas where it can take a very long time for ambulances to get to that point of need.”

“The exciting news is that my friends at Hendersos and Spar Northern Ireland are taking the groundbreaking stpe to introduce defibrillators into every community in Northern Ireland and it starts with you.

“You and your communities have access to these defibrillators installed outside Spar Northern Ireland stores all across the province.

“This is a life-saving move and they need your help. If you’d like to help with this groundbreaking project visit www.heartofourcommunityni.com and see how you can introduce a defibrillator into your community in 2016.

“Keep track on how the campaign is going by following the hashtag #defibdonate on Twitter. I predict you’ll take part today.”

The campaign is also supported by Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Dr Michelle McBride.

She said: “The addition of these external, public access defibrillators to our network of life savers across Northern Ireland is very welcome.

“The Department of Health, Social Services, and Public Safety launched the Community Resuscitation Strategy in 2014, with the aim of improving the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. This campaign complements the strategy and we hope that move lives can be saved in the future.”

To learn more about the campaign, visit www.heartofourcommunityni.com or SPAR NI and EUROSPAR NI on Facebook.