Railway Union brings in defibrillator

Leinster Junior club Railway Union RFC have taken the lead to protect their players by bringing in an Automated External Defibrillator, commonly known as an AED.

The forward-thinking decision was prompted by the deaths of a number of high-profile sportsmen. The AED analyses the heart rhythm of a person in cardiac arrest and uses voice prompts to advise if a shock is needed.

Emergency Medicine consultant at St Vincent's University Hospital, Dr John Ryan said: "The AED is a critically important device in saving lives when used on people who have suffered a ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest.

"Optimising chances of survival from a cardiac arrest is dependent on early CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and early defibrillation. The sooner a patient is defibrillated after a cardiac arrest the better the outcome will be.

"All ambulances in Dublin are equipped with AEDs but even a delay of five minutes can significantly reduce the chances of survival after a cardiac arrest.

"Indeed for every minute after collapse without CPR or defibrillation, a person's chance of survival decreases by between seven and 10%. Having an AED available close to the point of collapse saves lives."