The city’s Councillors and Member of Parliament gathered to congratulate a local charity and pharmacy for a collaboration that has brought a new, Publicly Accessible Defibrillator (PAD) to Portsmouth’s Guildhall Square.
Dedicated to providing training and raising awareness of how to save the lives of people who suffer from a cardiac arrest, the charity ‘Saving Lives Together (SaLT)’ was proud to reveal the latest result of its collaboration with Portsmouth healthcare brand, Lalys Pharmacy.
The two organisations have worked together to finance, apply for and install the publicly accessible defibrillator outside of the branch of Lalys Pharmacy’s located in Guildhall Walk.
‘On an average day in England approximately 82 people will suffer a cardiac arrest and of those that make it to hospital, only six will survive and be able to go home,’ explains the charity’s founder, Aisa Fraser. ‘This equates to approximately 30 000 cardiac arrests per year with a survival rate of less than 10%’
’Survival rates in other parts of the world far exceed ours and we believe there is an urgent need to provide training so that we can increase our bystander CPR rate and so they feel confident to perform CPR and use PADs.’
Having conducted training sessions with the members of staff at Lalys Pharmacy, the installation of the PAD was the next step to creating awareness and welcomed by local officials who came to show their support.
‘Prior to being a Councillor, I worked as a Healthcare Assistant, was trained in CPR and have seen first-hand how an early response can save lives, prevent brain damage and increase the likelihood of full recovery from cardiac arrest,’ said Councillor Kirsty Mellor.
‘During the pandemic, one of my neighbours suffered a cardiac arrest and I was called on to administer CPR. The work and mission of Saving Lives Together is really important and they have set a great example in the city of which we need more.’
‘We are proud to be supporting Saving Lives Together in its work for the communities our pharmacies serve,’ says Dr Raj Laly, Director of Lalys Pharmacy. ‘It is very satisfying to provide opportunities where people can learn how to help and look after each other.’
Photo (left to right)
STOOD: Councillors Kirsty Mellor and Carl Corkery for Charles Dickens Ward in Portsmouth, Director of Lalys Pharmacy Dr Raj Laly, Stephen Morgan MP for Portsmouth South, and Councillor Yinka Adeniran for Charles Dickens Ward.
KNELT: Founder of Saving Lives Together, Aisa Fraser with colleague and nurse, Ellie Batchelor