We’ve now installed public access defibrillators in all our 494 supermarkets across the UK, and our manufacturing sites - and with the support of St. John Ambulance we’ve also trained over 2,000 colleagues to use them.
The defibrillators have been installed in stores following a £500,000 donation from the Morrisons Foundation, as a vital piece of First Aid equipment for the wider community. We’re now hoping to create opportunities for customers and members of the community to train in using a defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
We're pleased to announce that Morrisons has won the St. John Ambulance Everyday Heroes award for installing the life saving defibrillators
Mark Farmer, director of First Aid Services at St. John Ambulance said: “Our Everyday Heroes awards recognise those who give and champion give first aid to make a real difference. This huge undertaking by Morrisons to keep people safe has already reaped the rewards of lives saved and is a most deserving winner of our Workplace Hero award.
How Does A Defibrillator Work?
Defibrillators, also known as Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), can dramatically improve the chances of a patient surviving a cardiac arrest, when combined with CPR.
Up to seven out of 10 people who suffer a cardiac arrest could survive if they are treated with a defibrillator within the first five minutes
Now located in every Morrisons supermarket, the defibrillators can be applied by anyone in an emergency. The user positions the electrodes (which have diagrams for step-by-step-application) onto the person in distress, and the machine evaluates their heartbeat to determine whether an electric shock is needed. If it is, the defibrillator delivers the shock and monitors the heartbeat again. A screen shows the heartbeat too, and a speaker gives easy-to-follow recorded instructions throughout the process.
“We know that the defibrillators have been used in at least five successful rescues...and there are people who have been able to go home to their families who otherwise might not have done”
David Scott, Head of Corporate Affairs at Morrisons
As part of the initiative, Morrisons also arranged for more than 2,300 employees to attend sessions on how to use defibrillators and give CPR run by St. John Ambulance volunteers. To learn more about defibrillators, how to give CPR and the Everyday Heroes awards please go to www.sja.org.uk
We’d like to say a huge thank you to St. John Ambulance for their support and partnership - it really will save lives in our stores. To find out more about their wider work, click here.
Visit the Morrisons Foundation site to find out more about how it is
helping communities around the country >>
The Powerheart® G5 defibrillators installed across Morrisons stores have been provided by specialist manufacturer, Cardiac Science. Managing director Shaun Ingram commented: “It’s been a pleasure to work on this ambitious programme of install and training. It will indeed save lives across the Morrisons store network.”
