Heart Trust Charity
Our November meeting began with Wendy Johnson from the Heart Trust charity giving us a talk and demonstration on how to use a defibrillator to save a life. She brought along five out of 15 different defibrillators, which can cost from £650 up to £25,000. Wendy told us that when nurses call out for one it’s “Bring me the defib” because the full word is too long! All defibs have a battery, but now one has been developed to run on solar power. The machine will indicate if the battery is running low.
With Training
If a person seems to be suffering a cardiac arrest (not a heart attack) but is still breathing, look for the nearest defibrillator. Before commencing call the ambulance service. They will ask you to switch to speakerphone so that they can give instructions and will give you a keypad number to open the defib case. It will contain small scissors to cut through clothing and remove metal such as neck chains and buttons. A small razor is also included for any man with a very hairy chest.
CPR
Using a defib in conjunction with CPR greatly increases survival rates. Wendy, assisted by husband Ivan, demonstrated CPR and how to place the defib pads to the top right and bottom left of the torso. The machine gives full and clear instructions and will repeat them until the pads are correctly placed, when it starts to analyse and continue the instructions.
Gail Holland gave a vote of thanks for a very informative and reassuring talk.
Our meeting continued with our AGM, during which Teresa Bottomley was voted in as President again and most of the committee remains the same for next year.
We have once again entered a tree for the Burton Overy Christmas Tree festival, under the title “A stitch in time for Christmas”.
Our last meeting in 2025 will be our Christmas party on 11 December, 7pm KCH.
We wish all Chronicle readers a really lovely Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
Pat Sharman
Pro Shop Christmas Golf Competition
