‘Defibrillators have to be documented’

Cllr John Dolan says he will give his full backing to a group to oversee the maintenance of defibrillators in the town.

The Athlone councillor, whose life was saved by a defibrillator two years ago after a cardiac arrest, says he is a “prime example” of the importance of access to working defibrillators.

In July 2017, John's heart stopped suddenly while he was at home. His sons carried out CPR while waiting for an ambulance to arrive, after which a defibrillator was required to get his heart started again.

As reported in the Westmeath Independent in December, currently there is no one officially responsible for monitoring defibrillators in Athlone or raising funds to maintain their batteries and pads.

Cllr Dolan is now joining calls for a committee to oversee the lifesaving equipment, and he says a list should be compiled of the location of every defibrillator in the town.

“They have to be documented. It would make sense for the Guards or the Ambulance Service to be aware of where all the defibrillators are, so they could direct people to them. There was talk of having a national system that would record the location of each one.

“It is a matter of getting someone to take responsibility for them. The problem is that the batteries and the pads go out of date and need to be replaced, and if they’re not affiliated with a club there might not be anyone checking them.”

Cllr Dolan said he is aware of one man who collapsed and was given one shock from a defibrillator, which thankfully was all he needed. However, it was discovered afterwards that there was only enough battery power in the device for one shock.

“It took three shocks to get me going again, so he was lucky.

“I’m willing to get involved with any group, and hopefully there will be a public meeting soon to get things moving.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming involved with a defibrillator group for Athlone is asked to contact Darren Mulledy on 086 1704394, or Gerard Tiernan via Facebook.