Happy Heart Day in Ferbane

The Ferbane Community First Responder Group will be hosting the Ferbane Happy Heart Day on Saturday, August 31.

The event will take place in the Heritage centre in Ferbane from 10am until 3pm and everyone is welcome to attend.

Activities will include CPR demonstrations, meeting the Ferbane Community First Responder Team, blood pressure and pulse check, Coder Dojo showcase, children’s entertainment and a raffle and bake sale

The Ferbane Community First Responder Group will work with the National Ambulance Service to respond to cardiac emergencies in the Ferbane area in order to reduce the number of deaths attributed to these conditions.

Rachel O’Connor, Coordinator of the group said they hope to increase the number of trained volunteers in the future so as to provide a fuller service.

"But we need your help. If you wish to join us in providing this much needed service for our community, please contact a member of the group”.

In Ireland 5,000 people die each year from cardiac arrest, thirteen people every day. The current survival rate for Outâ€ofâ€Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Ireland is around 7%. Effective CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of a defibrillator within the first 5 minutes of cardiac arrest can produce survival rates as high as 50–75%. Immediate CPR, following collapse, can double or triple survival from cardiac arrest. This demonstrates the importance of a Community First Responder Group in helping increase survival from cardiac arrest.

On Ferbane Happy Heart Day the First Responder group will give demonstrations of CPR techniques in response to cardiovascular emergencies.

These demonstrations will take place throughout the day. The Ferbane group, in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation (http://www.irishheart.ie) which works to reduce cardiovascular risk factors and promotes prevention programmes, will have a nurse in attendance on the day who will offer free blood pressure and pulse checks, which provide indicators of tendency towards suffering from heart disease.

There will also be entertainment for all the family, including colouring for children and a Ferbane Coder Dojo showcase for over 10 year olds, tea and coffee will be served, and we will hold a bake sale and a raffle with great prizes. Proceeds from the bake sale and raffle will be used to purchase essential equipment for the group such as a defibrillator.

According to the chairperson of Ferbane Community First Responders, Patrick Egan the aim of the day is to “raise awareness of the group’s activities, raise some vital funds and to involve the community in our group, which will provide life saving services to any member of the community if they ever need it”.

First Responders are only dispatched to chest pain, breathing difficulty, choking, stroke and cardiac related calls within an agreed radius of their communities. The coverage area will be a 5km radius of Ferbane.

At present, the number of trained volunteers in the Ferbane Group is small and most work full-time outside the area, therefore they cannot provide a full-time service. The intention is to respond to calls when group members are available to do so.