Member Article

Cardiac arrest of employee prompts investment in defibrillators

After an employee survived a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at a site in Barnsley owned by industrial services giant Cape, the firm bought 68 automated emergency defibrillators, one for any office or depot with more than 10 employees across their global footprint.

Cape is an international leader in the provision of critical industrial services focused on the energy and natural resources sectors. It employs 5,700 people in the UK out of a total workforce of 17,000 worldwide, and has a turnover of £698.3 million.

First aider on the scene of the SCA was Rachel Steele, who works as the Group Learning and Engagement Project Manager for the firm. She said the incident, which the employee came through, was a wake-up call for the company.

“We were lucky that the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) were able to get to our staff member in time on this occasion, but we knew we had to do something about it.”

Rachel asked YAS for a recommendation on defibrillators and they advised on a Powerheart G5 from Cardiac Science.

Warren Bostock from YAS explained his choice: “We use the Powerheart G5 as an ambulance service and it is an excellent device. The CPR voice prompts give added assurance for people and it’s a more robust model than others on the market.”

Kevin Garvey from Cardiac Science said: “The G5 makes it easy and intuitive to use in an emergency. It is the first AED to combine real time CPR guidance and fast shock times and is the only AED to give a shock as required. It has been designed to talk a rescuer through the process step by step.”

YAS has already provided free training on the device for 83 staff members at Cape sites in their region. They have been installed in central locations close to office and yard-based employees.

North West Ambulance Service and those in other areas have been asked by Cape to do the same. Sites include Swansea, Great Yarmouth and Aberdeen.

The training was a two-hour interactive session covering use of the G5 in an emergency and CPR.

Cape UK MD Simon Hicks commented: “The health and welfare of our workforce is paramount to us. We hope of course that we never have to use one of these devices, but unlike before, if we have a similar emergency, we will have the tools to give our employees the very best chance of survival.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Welton .