The Cornwall Community Foundation are very pleased to be supporting Coast Medic in providing this very valuable service to the local community. Living in a very coastal area the more people who are trained and equipped to support others who may find themselves in difficulty is hugely beneficial to all.
Reason for the Project
In the UK approximately 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside hospital. A patient's chance of survival decreases by around 10% per minute following a Cardiac Arrest. As such it is vital that emergency medical treatment begins as soon as possible. If defibrillation is delivered promptly, survival rates as high as 75% can be achieved.
In rural coastal areas, there is an inevitable delay in the ambulance service reaching the scene, resulting in a poor patient outcome. Last year, this occured in Helford river and a local community member sadly did not survive.
Who Are We?
Coast Medic is the charity that provides and promotes medical aid in coastal waters and shoreline areas.
How We Plan To Make Things Better
We would like to install a publicly accessible AED (defibrillator) in rural coastal locations that can be used by anyone in the immediate area. This could increase the chances of survival significantly. We will maintain the AED to ensure that it is regularly serviced and operational. We will also provide AED awareness training to the local community including local clubs and residents.
Who Will Benefit?
The community living, working, relaxing or participating in sport within these rural areas will significantly benifit from the availability of these devices in an emergency.
We are looking to roll these lifesaving devices out to areas including:
- Helford River
- Flushing
- Porthleven
- Coverack
- Polperro
- Mevigisy
- Fowey
- Onboard ferries
Costs
Our charity is looking for funding with the initial setup costs for purchasing and installing the equipment. We shall continue to generate funds in order to maintain the device and cover the costs for training.
It costs us £1500 for every device we install. The more funds we raise, the more devices that we can install and the safer our rural coastal locations.
Previous Experience
We have already installed an AED at Mylor Yacht Harbour following a number of medical incidents and are providing training this autumn through Mylor Yacht Club.