Shaking hands on life-saving deal

Burscough physios Paul Talbot and Chris Brogden have taken delivery of a life-saving defibrillator thanks to the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League club’s fans.

Burscough Supporters Club’s Keith Forshaw is pictured presenting the ‘defib’ to the pair at Victory Park after fans raised the funds to enable the First Division North’s Linnets to take advantage of the Football Association and British Heart Foundation’s £1.2m Defibrillator Fund.

Launched in 2012, the unique partnership underwrites two thirds of the equipment's cost and has been taken up by more than half the Evo-Stik NPL’s clubs who are now equipped to save lives in their own communities. The Evo-Stik NPL launched its own initiative to encourage member clubs to purchase defibrillators before the start of last season and, along with others in the Pyramid and Football Alliance, successfully lobbied the FA for direct action.

Instead of paying around £1000 for a 'defib', clubs have paid just £318, knocking two thirds off the price. More than 900 clubs at Steps 1-6 were eligible and the scheme proved so popular that it was extended last year following its original launch.

Awareness around sudden cardiac arrests was heightened when former England Under-21 star Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest in the Tottenham Hotspur versus Bolton Wanderers FA Cup tie in March 2012. Muamba's story is even more remarkable as only 1 in 5 people normally survive a witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK.

A defibrillator, also known as an Automated External Defibrillator or AED, gives the heart a controlled electrical shock during cardiac arrest. For every minute that passes without CPR of defibrillation, chances of survival decrease by about 10 per cent.

Research shows giving CPR and a controlled shock within five minutes of collapse provides the best possible chance of survival if CPR has been carried out as well. The British Heart Foundation has now helped place more than 11,000 defibrillators in the community since 1996.

Evo-Stik NPL clubs in 2013 who purchased ‘defibs’ via the fund included: Bamber Bridge, Belper Town, Burscough, Cammell Laird, Chorley, Clitheroe, Coalville Town, Curzon Ashton, Darlington, FC United of Manchester, Grantham Town, Gresley FC, Halesowen, Harrogate Railway Athletic, Kendal Town, Kidsgrove Athletic, King’s Lynn Town, Lancaster City, Leek Town, Marine, Matlock Town, Mossley, Nantwich Town, Ossett Albion, Ossett Town, Radcliffe Borough, Rainworth MW, Ramsbottom Utd, Rushall Olympic, Salford City, Skelmersdale United, Stamford AFC, Sutton Coldfield Town, Warrington Town, Witton Albion and Worksop Town.

For more information visit: www.bhf.org.uk/football