Workers on Bewley Homes construction sites have been given a potentially life-saving Christmas present with defibrillators now installed on all live developments.
Staff and subcontractors health and safety is always the number one priority at Bewley Homes and the installation of the defibrillators was a sensible precaution for the company to protect all its workers.
The arrival of the defibrillators comes at a time when there are more than 30,000 sudden cardiac arrests in the UK outside hospital every year with up to 89% of these in men.
Reports show immediate treatment of someone suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest boosts survival rates dramatically. Without immediate assistance, the survival rate is less than 6% but with prompt attention, this can rise to 70%.
The British Heart Foundation says that every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by up to 10%.
“These statistics are pretty shocking so anything we can do to protect our staff is vitally important,” said Andrew Brooks, Managing Director at Bewley Homes. Andrew added: “Our construction workers and subcontractors are predominantly men who are, according to statistics, likely to suffer a sudden cardiac arrest. While we hope none of the defibrillators will ever be used, we know that by having them on site we can ensure our staff will have the best treatment available immediately.”
Andrew added: “The European Championships this summer brought home that this can happen to anyone – even super fit, professional footballers, as in the case of Christian Eriksen and previously Fabrice Muamba.”
The defibrillators were supplied by the Arrythmia Alliance, The Heart Rhythm Alliance which runs the Defibs Saves Lives campaign to promote publicly accessible defibrillators.
Matt Jenkins, Health and Safety Manager at Bewley said it was important for the housebuilder to be proactive in protecting its workforce.
Matt added: “The health and safety of all our staff is an integral part of being a responsible employer and these portable defibrillators on site clearly demonstrates that we are doing everything possible to ensure our staff have access to potentially life-saving equipment.
“We have chosen lightweight portable devices which can quickly and easily be deployed on our building sites if they are needed.”
Bewley Homes has partnered with Arrythmia Alliance, The Heart Rhythm Charity, which runs the Defibs Saves Lives campaign to promote publicly accessible defibrillators and to supply the AEDs to ensure staff are heart safe with an AED on all construction sites.
Founder at Arrythmia, Alliance Trudie Lobban, MBE, said, “It is so important that defibrillators become as common as fire extinguishers and smoke alarms to help save lives from sudden cardiac arrest. When a potentially fatal heart rhythm triggers a SCA the only chance of survival is to use the AED to shock the heart back into its normal rhythm.
“Every second counts so the quicker a defibrillator can be used the greater the chance of the person surviving. Bewley Homes has demonstrated the need to safeguard its employees by providing these life-saving devices across its development sites. We hope others will follow where they lead. We are proud to partner with them to initiate this innovative and ground-breaking initiative. Afterall, anyone of any age can suffer a sudden cardiac arrest without warning and anyone of any age can use an AED to save a life,” added Trudie.