City defibrillator vandalised twice in space of a day

Plans to install a network of public defibrillators across Cork City are being reviewed after the city’s first 24/7 life-saving device was vandalised twice in the space of a few hours.

Cork Lions Club said last night it was “extremely disappointed” after the automatic external defibrillator (AED) on Oliver Plunkett St was damaged last summer.

And, given the costs, the club may have to review its ambitious plans to install 12 AEDs around the city centre.

The Lions Club unveiled the first in its network on the wall near the Oliver Plunkett St entrance to the Penneys retail outlet last August.

However, the perspex window in its wall-mounted cabinet was smashed around 3.30am on Saturday.

Lions Club member Martin Walley, who is co-ordinating the defibrillator project, removed the AED for inspection, replaced the perspex, and fitted a replacement AED by 3pm that afternoon.

However, the cabinet window was smashed again at around 4am on Sunday. The AED is now being kept in Penneys pending a review. CCTV footage is also being examined.

“We are very appreciative to the people of Cork for their support in helping us raise the funds to allow us make an AED publicly available in the city centre,” Mr Walley said. “AEDs are extremely important in increasing the chance of recovery for anyone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest and we are still determined to pursue the Cork Lions City Centre Defibrillator Project.”

However, he said that, given the costs — each cabinet and AED costs around €2,500 — vandalism could threaten the project.

“We hope what happened over the weekend was isolated,” said Mr Walley. “But when you have incidents like this, you have to stop and think is this the right thing to be doing.”