Laurieston Scouts show they have caring heart for community with defibrillator

A Scout group is determined to help others in their community after arranging to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) installed outside their premises.
Jill Buchanan
By Jill Buchanan
Published 10th Feb 2023, 12:41 BST
Updated 10th Feb 2023, 12:47 BST
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Members of the 16th Laurieston Scout Group have had the life-saving equipment installed outside their premises in Spinkhill.

Members of the community will be able to access the device anytime should anyone suffer from a cardiac arrest. The small machine shocks a patient’s heart into restarting, is easy to use and sophisticated enough to talk the user through the process. People don’t need any clinical training to use the AED.

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A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time and the employment of a defibrillator and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) within the first few minutes after an arrest, while professional help is on its way, can increase the chances of a patient’s survival by up to 70 per cent.

The 16th Laurieston Scout Group has installed an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) outside the Scout Hall. Cubs are pictured with the life-saving equipment. Pic: Michael GillenThe 16th Laurieston Scout Group has installed an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) outside the Scout Hall. Cubs are pictured with the life-saving equipment. Pic: Michael Gillen
The 16th Laurieston Scout Group has installed an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) outside the Scout Hall. Cubs are pictured with the life-saving equipment. Pic: Michael Gillen

Each year over 30,000 people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK, with less than one in ten surviving - giving CPR and using a defibrillator can more than double someone’s chance of survival, according to the British Heart Foundation

Alan Dick, Group Scout Leader of 16th Laurieston Scout Group, said: “I’d like to thank the NatWest Banking Group/Royal Bank of Scotland for this generous donation of life-saving equipment which will be accessible to the whole community in case of emergency situations. The first minutes are vital in these cases and by having this important piece of equipment, we can keep everyone safe.”

In the next few weeks the Scout Group will also be contacting the community to offer CPR Training and AED familiarisation sessions. Look out for details on: https://www.facebook.com/ScoutsLaurieston

Related topics:CPR