Call for council to get involved in management of defibrillators

As the Prendergast family from Tullamore mark the first anniversary of their father's life being saved by a defibrillator, they are calling for more of these life-saving devices to be installed at visible locations around the town and for a list of their locations to be made available to members of the public.

Long-standing member of Tullamore Men's Shed, Tom Prendergast, collapsed suddenly in the Church Road premises on April 11 last year, and his daughter, Erica, recalls how she ”hadn't a clue” where the nearest defibrillator was, or how it could be accessed.

But for the quick intervention of Lorraine Wynne, who operates a drama school besides the Men's Shed premises and performed CPR on Mr. Prendergast until an ambulance arrived, the outcome for the local family could have been a lot different. “Paramedics used a defibrillator to save our Dad's life,” says his daughter, Erica, who lives in the Carrig Cluain housing development.

In the wake of their father's experience, the Prendergast family subsequently raised over €1,000 through a GoFundMe appeal and presented a defibrillator to Tullamore Men's Shed in May of last year, and Erica is now calling for more defibrillators to be installed at visible locations around the town.

She asked Cllr Sandy Feehan-Smollen to raise the issue at the last meeting of Tullamore Municipal District, and request Offaly County Council to become involved in the provision of defibrillators and their maintenance.

Cllr Feehan-Smollen told the Offaly Independent this week that she was “not satisfied” with the response she received when she raised the issue at the meeting and is determined to ensure the everyone is aware of where their nearest defibrillator is located and knows how to access it.

“It is so important that we have enough defibrillators, especially in the vicinity of local sports clubs and areas where large crowds of people are gathered, and it's equally important to know how to access them and operate them in the case of an emergency,” said the Clara-based Independent Cllr.

Cllr Feehan-Smollen outlined how her council colleague, Cllr Frank Moran, who works for the HSE, told the March municipal meeting that anyone who rings 999 is told the location of their nearest defibrillator. “That doesn't seem to have happened in the case of Tom Prendergast, and but for the quick intervention of a lady from the premises next door to the Men's Shed the Prendergast family could be without their father today, and that's a fact,” she said.

The local councillor who raised the issue said she would like to see Offaly County Council getting involved in the provision and the maintenance of defibrillators at key locations in Tullamore and across the wider county, as she feels it would provide “a more streamlined service” and this is something that Erica Prendergast would also welcome.

However, Cllr Feehan-Smollen said she was told at the municipal district meeting that the council has “no involvement” in the provision of defibrillators in the community, other than providing the wall mounts for the devices.

In a statement to this newspaper, a spokesperson for Offaly County Council said the council has six defibrillators which are in "various Council premises, accessible during office hours and serviced annually." It said it is "not responsible" for other defibrillators located in the county.

"We have been advised by HSE that people should phone 112 to find out what defibrillators are accessible at the time of an incident/accident".