Bewley Homes Helps to Save Lives with Donation of Two Defibrillators
New AED devices located on site at Madejski Stadium, courtesy of local business and Arrhythmia Alliance makes Reading Football Club, a focal point for the local community, a safer place for supporters thanks to the openhanded gift of two automated external defibrillator (AED) by local business Bewley Homes.
An AED is a portable device which shocks a person’s heart to restore a normal heart rhythm when they have experience a sudden cardiac arrest – a condition which sees the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stop beating. Sudden cardiac arrest is different to a heart attack – a heart attack is caused by the plumbing of the heart whereas a sudden cardiac arrest is due to an electric problem within the heart and the only way to restore the rhythm is with the use of an AED.
“Sudden cardiac arrest kills approximately 100,000 people in the UK every year…that is more than 270 people per day! In fact, it is responsible for more deaths than lung cancer, breast cancer and AIDS combined,” explains Trudie Lobban MBE, Founder and CEO of Arrhythmia Alliance. “Arrhythmia Alliance wants to make sure our loved ones, colleagues and friends are as safe as possible with an AED nearby.”
And thanks to Bewley Homes, Madejski Stadium – a venue which hosts a large number of major events every year – is now very well equipped to deal with emergency life threatening incidents which might suddenly occur on site. And every second counts when saving a life from sudden cardiac arrest.
Each individual’s safety is of paramount importance for a football club who proudly serves its supporters throughout every football season and its local community 365 days a year. And we are very pleased to have two brand new AED devices installed and fully operational ahead of this afternoon’s fixture against Brentford.
“Bewley is a local developer based in and around the Reading area and, as a company, we like to go that little bit further, putting something back in to help the local community,” said Andrew Brooks, Managing Director of Bewley Homes. “Our number one priority in placing defibrillators in key public spaces is to help save lives.”
Many public places keep an AED as part of their first aid equipment, including shopping centres, train stations, airports, offices and schools. And Madejski Stadium now hosts two! The defibrillators can be identified by their noticeable green casing in which they are stored as well as a green sign above each device. And you can use an AED with no training; the machines analyse a person’s heart rhythm and then use visual and voice prompts to guide you through each step.
On behalf of all the club’s supporters, we would like to express our gratitude to Bewley Homes and Arrhythmia Alliance for the generous donation of these two devices, which are situated in the entrance to the Main Reception at Madejski Stadium (between Gates 3 and 4) and by the Academy Training Dome with our Community Trust.
View promotional video here https://player.vimeo.com/video/246964921