Lafarge employees train as community life-savers

First-aiders trained to assist heart attack victims using newly acquired defibrillation machines

QUARRY workers and office staff at Lafarge are training as community ‘heart-start life-savers’ after receiving new defibrillation machines.

This means that while the ambulance service is en-route, first-aiders at Mountsorrel Quarry and the company’s Syston head office can provide vital treatment to heart attack victims, not only at their sites but also in neighbourhoods and businesses close by.

Research shows that applying defibrillation – a controlled electric shock – to someone suffering cardiac arrest within 5min of collapse provides the best possible chance of survival. Fast response to a heart attack emergency is therefore vital.

The defibrillation machines have been supplied by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) through the British Heart Foundation’s community defibrillation scheme. The aim is to ensure good coverage across Leicestershire and the wider region so that anyone suffering a heart attack can receive the fastest and most effective treatment possible.

Angus Shedden (left of photo), site manager at Mountsorrel Quarry, which has received one of the automated external defibrillators (AEDs), said: ‘Having this new life-saving equipment on site is not only good news for our employees, but also for the neighbourhoods close by.

‘If we get a call from the ambulance service to say someone in Quorn, for example, has had a heart attack and can we attend quickly, the outcome for that person will be better than if they were left without any intervention before the ambulance arrives.

‘Lafarge are committed to supporting local communities around their sites and this is one way in which we can make a huge, possibly life-saving, difference.’

At Granite House, in Syston, the headquarters of Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK, another new AED will be on hand for employees and also for emergencies at other firms on the Watermead Business Park.

Full training on the AEDs is being provided by EMAS, although, as Sean Keown (centre of photo), community defibrillation officer, explained, even the inexperienced should be able to use one.

‘Modern AEDs are so simple and easy to use and they are true life-savers, so it’s fantastic that Lafarge have got on board with the community scheme,’ he said. ‘Anyone can use an AED but we do prefer people to receive training first, which we are happy to provide.’