Town take heart from life-saving fund

Belper Town have become the latest Evo-Stik Northern Premier League club to purchase a life-saving defibrillator with the help of the Football Association and British Heart Foundation.

Thanks to a unique partnership between the FA and BHA, nearly half of the league's clubs have already purchased the life-saving equipment since the launch of a £1.2m Defibrillator Fund in March to underwrite two thirds of the cost and provide training to thousands of fans, officials and players in their use.

Instead of paying around £1000 for a defibrillator, clubs have paid just £318, knocking two thirds off the price. More than 900 clubs at Steps 1-6 were eligible and the scheme has proved so popular that organisers have extended it, giving clubs like First Division South Belper a second chance to equip themselves.

Before the start of last season, the Evo-Stik NPL launched its own initiative to encourage clubs to purchase defibrillators and, along with other leagues in the Pyramid and Football Alliance, successfully lobbied the FA for direct action.

Belper Town first aider Steve Henson is pictured explaining how the defibrillator is used to club stewards at Christchurch Meadow. The Nailers are delighted to become the latest club to purchase and install a defibrillator, giving players, staff and fans access to the equipment needed to save lives in their community.

Nailers spokesman Dave Laughlin said: "This vital piece of equipment could prove to be difference between life and death and it’s a welcome addition to this club and its community.

"The FA and BHF have made it possible for Belper Town to be part of the drive to improve the UK’s poor cardiac arrest survival rates. Along with CPR, a defibrillator is a vital link in the chain of survival and we’re lucky that we now have the skills and equipment at the club to save a life."

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 on March 17 last year.

Muamba’s story is even more remarkable as only around 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 already helped place 11,000 defibrillators in the community since 1996.

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