Workers at a Cwmbran business park will now have access to a potentially life-saving defibrillator, thanks to Green & Co Accountants and Tax Advisors and the Welsh Ambulance Service through the Save a Life Cymru Scheme.
The defibrillator will be the only one within walking distance of the numerous businesses with hundreds of staff at the business park – leading to important conversations on the need for access to defibrillators at work.
The defibrillator will be available to the public and is located outside the firm’s headquarters at Pembroke House on Llantarnam Parkway.
Each minute of delay to defibrillation is estimated to reduce the probability of long-term survival by 10%. According to a study by the National Institute for Health Research, the UK survival rate for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is only 8%, but this rises to 32% with bystander and defibrillation support – even up to 53% for individuals with an abnormal heart rhythm.
There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year. Even with more people working remotely – many still spend a significant amount of time at the office. Most defibrillators are in community places, however, with 20% of cardiac arrests occurring at work – more access is needed.
Director at Green & Co, Nick Park, said it was a colleague’s personal story that inspired them to look into having a defibrillator closer to work. “The health and wellbeing of our staff is obviously of utmost importance to us, but it wasn’t until we were discussing one of our colleague’s personal experiences with a genetic heart condition that we realised there were no defibrillators within walking distance of our offices.
“Naturally, publicly available defibs are kept in community spaces – but with so many people working on the business park, we felt it was important to try and get one close by – every second counts.
“I am delighted that we now have a defibrillator at the entrance to our office. This is available to anyone in the area who needs it and hopefully will help to save lives. In my experience, just doing the defibrillator training course was incredibly useful and gave me much more confidence about how to help if someone does collapse. I would strongly recommend others getting the life-saving training that could make a profound difference.’
Carl Powell, from the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “There are 6,000 cardiac arrests in Wales every year, and whilst most of these happen at home, a significant amount occur in public. Time is a critical factor during an arrest, and unfortunately, not all public access defibs are listed on thecircuit.uk register – particularly those in workspaces.
“I’m delighted that Green & Co have placed the defibrillator outside their office and made it available for public use – potentially saving lives.”
