B&M donation funds lifesaving equipment for ambulance charity

B&M has helped fund another piece of life-saving equipment for the people of the North West.

The donation of £20,000 to the North West Air Ambulance Charity will help them buy a defibrillator for their Rapid Response Unit, as well as helmets for their crew members.

The defibrillator is used when a patient is in cardiac arrest and is usually the first step towards saving a life. Each defibrillator funded and installed increases the chances of survival for an out of hospital cardiac arrest from just 5% to over 75%.

The charity urgently needed the equipment for their Rapid Response Vehicle, which is used when helicopters cannot fly – this could be due to bad weather, lack of suitable areas for landing and much more.

Up until now NWAA have had to borrow a defibrillator from one of their helicopters which costs time and deprives the helicopter of its own life-saving equipment, if circumstances changed and it was called into action it could limit the chances of saving another life.

The donation will also help buy new flight helmets for pilots, paramedics and doctors when they’re travelling to an accident. The flight helmets do not only protect their heads, but also provide excellent visibility and hearing in all conditions, as well as a consistent radio link to other crew members, air traffic control, emergency service and hospitals – which is vital.

Without the funding, the charity has revealed it would have taken them “a lot longer to source the income as well as a lot longer to raise” to be able to buy the equipment, meaning they’ll now be able to help save even more lives.

Head of Community, Corporate and Events, Emma Barker, said: “A dedicated defibrillator was urgently needed for our Rapid Response Unit so with this donation we have been able to buy one immediately, as well as part fund flight helmets for our crew members.

She added: “So often we hear people say that they didn’t realise we were even a charity, so with support from B&M it also helps us to raise awareness and understanding about the vital part we play in the North West.

“On behalf of the whole team and crew here at North West Ambulance Charity, I want to sincerely thank B&M for their extremely generous donation.”

B&M also helped the charity buy not one, but two LUCAS machines which have helped the team transfer the patient, still in cardiac arrest, direct to Wythenshawe Hospital where they can be treated straightaway.

Area Manager, Karl Swetnam, said: “We are delighted to have been able to help North West Air Ambulance Charity buy even more lifesaving equipment to help their crew members continue to save the lives of individuals across the region.”

The NWAA receive over 1.4 million* emergency calls per year, with emergency crews attending to more than 1 million incidents each year, with 815,063* of these requiring emergency transport.

* Based on figures from year end performance reports.