Mourant donates defibrillators to Sark Shipping
Isle of Sark Shipping has received two automated external defibrillators, which will be installed on board the Sark Venture and Corsaire de Sercq in the New Year.
The lifesaving machines were donated by law firm Mourant. Its charity committee aims to support five charities per year.
It had chosen St John Ambulance as one of its charities in 2023, who had recommended the AEDs for Sark Shipping.
‘We were delighted to help St John by donating these two AEDs,’ said Matthew Parker, who is a member of Mourant’s charity committee.
‘A massive thank you to Mourant for thinking of us, it means extra safety on board for our crew and our passengers, which is our priority,’ said Sark Shipping’s operations manager Juliet Walsh.
Skipper Dan Masterman, who is also a crew member for the RNLI, welcomed the move.
‘It’s going to be really beneficial for us should we need it.’
An AED is used in a medical emergency such as cardiac arrest. Its electrical shocks help the heart to re-establish a regular rhythm.
In Guernsey there are 145 public access defibrillators, which are available 24 hours a day.
Sark itself has four AEDs around the island.
‘I’m so pleased to hear that Isle of Sark Shipping have received these,’ said Cardiac Action Group vice-chairwoman Gerry Le Roy.
An automated external defibrillator is used in a medical emergency such as cardiac arrest, delivering electrical shocks to the heart to re-establish a regular rhythm.
The Cardiac Action Group offers free CPR and AED training to workplaces and other groups islandwide.
‘We receive bookings all the time. We want as many people as possible to be confident in this situation and to know the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest,’ said Mrs Le Roy.
‘We really want as many people as possible to contact us to learn these skills, they are so important.’
There are more than 200 CAG ‘guardians’ who check all the AEDs around the island.
The coastal AEDs are checked once a week, and the rest are checked every second week.
Mrs Le Roy said there are 145 public access defibrillators on the island at schools, supermarkets, sports grounds and community centres and an additional amount of internal limited access defibrillators. An external cabinet costs £1,165 and the AED itself is £985.
