Lifesaving defribrillators have been installed at a Tarporley hotel.
With cardiac arrests cited as a leading cause of death in the UK, Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa in Taporley is aiming to give its guests the best chance of survival.
The British Heart Foundation approved equipment will provide support to the 12 staff members trained in first aid and defibrillators have been installed at the hotel’s reception desk, leisure centre and golf club.
The easy to use machines automatically identify if an electrical shock is needed to restart a person’s heart and cannot be used on someone who does not need one.
General manager Marc Smith, who is trained in first aid, said: “Macdonald Hotels’ decision to become one of the first hotel companies in the UK to install and train staff to use defibrillators could mean the difference between life and death for someone having a cardiac arrest while at one of the hotels. “It can take several minutes for an ambulance to reach the hotel and this £47,000 group-wide investment in lifesaving defibrillators could reduce the amount of time someone who has had a cardiac arrest has to wait for defibrillation.”
The hotel golf ambassador Stephen Gallacher has a very personal reason to support the defibrillators being installed at the Macdonald Portal Hotel.
In 2013 Stephen’s 64 year old uncle, the golfing champion, Bernard Gallacher was saved after he suffered a cardiac arrest during an event at a hotel as the venue had a defibrillator.
Stephen said; “My uncle wouldn’t be here if there hadn’t been a defibrillator on hand and my whole family is so thankful that the machine was available on the day. Installing defibrillators is a fantastic idea, so many people come through Macdonald Hotels every day and it will set people’s minds at ease just knowing that there’s one in the building.
“I’ve seen them used a couple of times and I know how invaluable they are, for me, it just completes what is already brilliant service offered at Macdonald Hotels.”
60,000 people die every year in the UK from cardiac arrest, where the heart suddenly stops working, according to British Heart Foundation, and research shows those who suffer a cardiac arrest are 38 per cent more likely to survive if they receive CPR and defibrillation.
