The PHECC campaign roadshow, held over several weekends during July and August 2010, was intended to raise awareness of CPR among the general public, and involved teams of volunteers (including several members of the Kildare First Responders!) visiting shopping malls across the country and demonstrating and explaining the concept of ‘Hands-Only’ CPR.
Shoppers and bystanders, most of whom had never received any CPR training, were invited to ‘give it a try’, and the enthusiastic response resulted in hundreds of people acquiring a basic knowledge of CPR, and inspired many to sign up for full CPR training courses.
The phenomenal success of this campaign resulted in the Kildare First Responders hatching a plan to train in excess of 1,000 people in one day, and the annual Athy County Show was chosen as the ideal location. Previous exploits at this venue have included CPR training for the general public, politicians, a beauty Queen (2010 Rose of Kildare), and, in one bizarre but memorable episode, a uniformed squad of heavily-armed Star Wars Storm Troopers and their Commander.
At time of writing (May 11th), a crack team of instructors has been assembled, and the attempt to train over 1,000 people in CPR is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 19th at the Athy County Show in Athy, Co. Kildare. Space has been reserved at the County Showground to accommodate up to 60+ manikins, and the volunteer instructors will bring visitors through the ‘Check-Call-Compress’ procedures. Certificates will be awarded to all those who successfully complete the training sessions.
In return for their services, the instructors (and their manikins!) receive a souvenir tee shirt guaranteed to become a collector’s item within a few short years!
This voluntary, non-profit, event is intended to raise awareness among the public of issues such as CPR training, Cardiovascular Disease, SCA, and Stroke, and to promote the efforts of bodies such as PHECC, Irish Heart Foundation, Irish Blood Transfusion Service, and the Platelet Donor Clinic, (St. James’s Hospital). |
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The event is organised by the Kildare First Responders and is supported by the Athy County Show Committee, Laois Hire (Athy) and in particular Heartbeat Safety Ltd, Crookstown Co. Kildare.
At time of publication, the event has hopefully, been a success, and the group will be considering an even more ambitious (audacious?) event at the forthcoming National Ploughing Championship. This will involve qualified CPR instructors, manikins, AED’s, and phrases such as ‘internationally acclaimed’, ‘outstanding success’ and possibly even ‘new world record’!
Support staff, equipment, CPR trainers, and several thousand students will be required, and anyone willing or able to help out in this adventure is welcome to contact Kildare First Responders ASAP!
The Kildare First Responders are a voluntary cardiac response group linked to the HSE/Ambulance Service. For further information contact Garrath Skerritt on 087 4128851, or Pat Behan on 087 2851226.
CPR Challenge 2010 where approx 100 people learned Citizen CPR. Under the watchful eye of Michelle Wyse some enthusiastic participants were also trained in the use of an AED.
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