On Tuesday 18th July I visited Patrick Carbery of the Charlie Ramsay Research Fund to donate a defibrillator to Martina Ponsonby who runs Stage Door Dance Academy at Stoke Prior Village Hall.
The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund was established by Charlie's parents Sandra and Gerard in 2001 after she was born with a complex congenital heart disease. There is no medical cure for this condition and the initial fundraising was to support research to find a cure, so other babies and children can survive without the need for a donor human heart.
Over time, the charity has diversified into donating defibrillators to community organisations and schools in the area. The increased awareness of the importance of having defibrillators available to as many people as possible is the fundamental point behind this. Sandra Ramsay, the mother of Charlie Ramsay and Trustee of the research fund applied to the team at defibshop to potentially donate a defibrillator to Stoke Prior Village Hall.
The Hall is situated in the rural village of Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove. Several thousand people use the hall facilities each year for family events and regular activities such as a Dance school for children and adults, Table Tennis, Karate, Ukulele, Slimming, Tai Chi, Yoga groups as well as local Parish meetings. The hall is also used as a Polling Station.
The Village Hall is in a remote area away from many public facilities. There are no public phone boxes nearby and over the years there have been many road incidents outside the hall, which is situated on a very busy road. This is a main route serving a busy industrial park with several dangerous bends in the road. There are no street lights and the area is quite isolated, especially at night.
Martina Ponsonby, who runs Stage Door Dance School at the village hall is a parent of a child born with a Congenital Heart Defect, she knows only too well the importance of having a defibrillator.
Martina added “Knowing the wonderful gift of life that a defibrillator can offer and having heard many stories from people about how someone’s life was saved by using one, I wanted to help acquire one for my local community. Having a device accessible at the hall could increase the chances of survival for someone after having a cardiac arrest and this would not only help them but the people who know them too. I hope it never has to be used, but knowing that it could potentially save and preserve life, is incredible, as everyone deserves that chance.”
The donated defibrillator will be stored outside the village hall in an outdoor cabinet, so the device is available for the general public and surrounding community. Placing a defibrillator in a cabinet also helps the public and emergency services easily identify its location should it be needed by adding it to The Circuit (National Defibrillator Network linked to 999 Emergency Services).
Patrick Carbery of the Charlie Ramsay Research Trust added “A person suffering a cardiac arrest has a greater chance of survival with immediate first aid treatment, those chances are further improved if a defibrillator is used. It’s as simple as that, defibrillators save lives. If we can just have one defibrillator in a location that is used on one occasion and it helps to save one single person, then it will all be worth it and that's why they are so important to us.”
I hope Martina and the staff at the village hall will never have any reason to use their new defibrillator, but know that if should such an emergency occurred, they are now well equipped to help that individual and feel that every possible chance has been given to them, whatever the outcome.
If you would like to be in with a chance to receive a defibrillator for your local charity/community, please contact us today
