Cerebral Palsy Midlands is thanking donors for their continued support; money raised through its fundraising events has now enabled them to install a publicly accessible defibrillator and bleed control kit at the centre on Victoria Road in Harborne for the benefit of the whole local community.
Donations help the charity to provide a busy adult day service supporting people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. Funds are also used to improve facilities and support the wider Harborne community, which Cerebral Palsy Midlands is very much part of.
Sarah Lilly, Deputy Manager at Cerebral Palsy Midlands, explains: “Every time someone buys a raffle ticket at one of our events, supports a fundraiser, makes a donation, or gets behind Cerebral Palsy Midlands, they help us to do more.
“Sometimes that money enables us to provide activities and opportunities for our citizens. Sometimes it helps us improve our centre and accessibility. And sometimes, as with this project, it allows us to invest in something that can benefit our whole community.
“We’d like to thank all of our supporters and Turtle Medical who helped us choose the right defibrillator for our community. There are a variety to choose from but with their advice, the selection process, adding a bleed kit and the installation was very straightforward.”
Cerebral Palsy Midlands has invested £2,370 in the new emergency lifesaving equipment at its Harborne centre; a new LIFEPAK CR2 semi-automatic defibrillator and a The Daniel Baird Foundation Emergency Bleed Control Kit have been installed in a secure, heated outdoor cabinet on the exterior of the building, supplied and installed by Turtle Medical.
Prior to the installation at the Cerebral Palsy Midlands centre, there was a large gap across Victoria Road and War Lane where no public defibrillator was located; shown on www.defibfinder.uk.
The bleed control kit is the only one in the immediate area; the nearest shown on https://bleedmap.uk is on Albany Rd off the middle of the high street, which is a 13-minute walk away. A person can bleed out in as little as 3 minutes.
The Daniel Baird Foundation was established following the death of 26-year-old Daniel Baird, who was fatally stabbed in Birmingham in 2017. The Foundation has since campaigned to make bleed control kits more widely available in public places so that people have access to equipment that could help save a life.
In an emergency, always call 999 and follow the instructions given by the emergency call handler. In the event of a cardiac arrest or catastrophic bleed, having the right emergency equipment nearby can make an enormous difference while an ambulance is on its way.
Mike Dowson, founder and Managing Director of Turtle Medical, added: “We love this; the community has supported Cerebral Palsy Midlands and now Cerebral Palsy Midlands is able to give back and say thank you, making local people safer.
“AEDs or defibrillators have varied functionality so we were pleased to help Cerebral Palsy Midlands to be confident in their choice and we would always recommend adding a bleed control kit, like they have done. It’s crucial to note that the lifesaving equipment has been registered on Bleed Map and The Circuit, enabling emergency services to direct people to them and local people to become familiar with where they are.”
Sarah continues: “We’re incredibly proud to have funded this installation and I hope others in the local community will consider the same, especially adding more bleed control kits to the area.
“Of course, we hope it never needs to be used, but should somebody suffer a cardiac arrest or life-threatening bleed nearby, potentially lifesaving equipment is now available right here at Cerebral Palsy Midlands.”
To support Cerebral Palsy Midlands, please visit www.cpmids.org.uk.
