Active Skeheenarinky AED Group
I am delighted to be able to clarify the position regarding the (AED) defibrillator in Skeheenarinky. Jim O’Brien of Ballyporeen who has given magnificent voluntary service over the years and who has been actively involved in AED installation, maintenance, training of operatives etc. over the years, assures me that the machine at Skeheenarinky is checked on a regular basis, has new batteries and pads fitted at the exact specified intervals, and is in perfect working order. Jim says that if someone in your home or workplace collapses, the first thing you should do is call 112 or 999 and ask for an ambulance. The people at ambulance control will, if they have the information, call a responder. Members of the public who are not trained as responders should not go to the machine. (Only trained responders who have the code for the keypad can access the machine.) There are approximately 10 -12 trained first responders in Skeheenarinky at the moment and their certificates are up-to-date and they are insured. I apologise if the information I was given for last week’s article inferred otherwise. The information was possibly based on the fact that of the 30 people from the parish who agreed to retrain in Ballyporeen earlier this year, only 11 showed up. Training and re-certification for the Skeheenarinky Group will be organised at Skeheenarinky for the New Year. Details here later. Jim is happy to clarify any of these matters at 052 67446. I have also had a call to say that in some other areas, local groups have an emergency AED mobile phone with publicly known number. The holder of the phone always knows who is on call and the ‘holder’ can change as circumstances such as holidays etc. dictate.