This year, we’ve had the privilege of supporting various lifesaving initiatives, from community groups to charities and more. There have also been some great networking and awareness opportunities, including ceremonies and events that have given us the chance to meet some wonderful people who share our vision. Here, we take a look back at 12 occasions across the year where we’re proud to have worked with communities across the country to help save lives.
1. Rotary North East ‘One Life Initiative’
This project, aimed at increasing the number of Community Public Access Defibrillators (cPADs) across the north-east, is something we’ve been proud to support. Through an excellent fundraising and public awareness campaign, Rotary North East, the North East Ambulance Service and WEL Medical have come together to help strengthen the chain of survival.
We have supported the One Life Initiative from its inception and proud to say that this year we have worked with North East Rotary to position 100 PAD sites all over the north east.
2. Sparky and Casey visit the Swanage Carnival
To support a push from Swanage Community Defib Partnership (SCDP), mascots Sparky and Casey joined the festivities at Swanage Carnival to highlight the use of defibrillators. Travelling down to Dorset from their previous role as part of the ‘One Life Initiative’ in County Durham, Sparky and Casey spent the day chatting with carnival-goers, joining in with activities and raising funds and public awareness for the crucial role AEDs play in our communities.
3. The Scottish Resuscitation Group’s 30th Anniversary
Established in 1993, the Scottish Resuscitation Group offers support, education, and networking for people interested in the field of resuscitation. With their excellent record of community learning and public engagement, they celebrated their 30th Anniversary earlier this year.
WEL Medical has been a proud partner of the Scottish Resuscitation Group and supports the work and research they carry out. We loved participating in their Anniversary celebrations; it was an excellent opportunity to talk more about how we can improve the chain of survival and save more lives.
4. The Red Sky Ball
The Red Sky Foundation helps to keep little hearts beating longer and stronger across the North East. They’re responsible for building awareness and gathering funds in the battle against congenital heart disease and sudden cardiac arrest in babies, children and adults. We were thrilled to attend this year’s Red Sky Ball, an annual event for people to come together to celebrate the charity’s excellent lifesaving work.
The couple who co-founded the foundation, Emma and Sergio Petrucci, are locals of Sunderland in honour of their daughter, Luna, who underwent lifesaving heart surgery in 2015. This year, Emma and Sergio were awarded MBEs at Buckingham Palace by King Charles for their services to health and the community in the North East.
Above: WEL Medical’s Andy Nicol with Sergio Petrucci, co-founder of the Red Sky Foundation.
5. Yorkshire Ambulance Service: 10-Year Anniversary of Restart a Heart Day
This year, Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) celebrated a decade of providing lifesaving CPR training to pupils of schools across the region on Restart a Heart Day. Since the inaugural event in 2014, YAS has taught CPR to over 200,000 students during nearly 900 school visits thanks to staff and volunteers giving thousands of hours.
Community Engagement Manager Jason Carlyon said, “It’s priceless hearing the many stories of people whose lives have been saved thanks to bystander CPR.” He added that hearing stories of those taught on Restart a Heart Day using their skills to save lives is “particularly rewarding.” At WEL Medical, we’re ardent supporters of Restart a Heart Day and are proud to have worked closely with YAS.
6. Ten Thousand Target: Little LifeSavers Charity
Offering free, simple, scripted bystander-CPR skills sessions to children across the UK, the Little Life Savers has reached new heights this year. They exceeded their target of educating 10,000 children aged 9-13 in basic resuscitation, working with volunteers from all backgrounds and walks of life.
Delivering accessible, 70-minute sessions, Little Life Savers’ volunteers have used Brayden Manikins to provide excellent results in schools up and down the country. Research shows that teaching children CPR at a young age is crucial in saving lives, making the work done by this charity even more impressive.
7. Helensburgh Community Fund Grant
This year, the Helensburgh & Local District CPR/Defibrillator Association secured a £1,000 funding boost to upgrade and repair essential lifesaving equipment. With Miller Homes Ltd providing the funds, the money will be used to keep Helensburgh’s iPAD AEDs up to date with new batteries and pads, helping to strengthen the chain of survival.
8. OurJay 100 Defibs Target
Founded in memory of Jamie Rees, OurJay is a charity dedicated to providing easily accessible defibrillators to give bystanders and responders the best chance of saving a life. Initially only aimed at providing one iPAD defibrillator to a local school, the charity has far exceeded this ambition and unveiled its 100th defibrillator outside St Andrew’s Church in Rugby, Warwickshire.
Jamie’s mum, Naomi Issitt, runs the charity and now aims to install another 200 defibrillators before the end of 2024.
9. School Artwork Competition
Having defibrillators in schools is a fantastic way to strengthen the chain of survival. As community centres and social touchpoints, they often provide a recognisable landmark for people to access an AED. We’re keen to enhance this potential further by encouraging local authorities to install defibrillators outside of schools instead of behind closed gates.
To that end, we supported an artwork competition for schools across the UK to design their very own cover for our Defibsafe2 cabinets. Not only was this aimed to raise national awareness for the accessibility of defibrillators, but it also helped to engage children in understanding the importance of lifesaving skills.
10. Emergency Services Show
This year, we were proud to exhibit at The Emergency Services Show in Birmingham for the first time. The Emergency Services Show is dedicated to supporting connections between professionals from across the Emergency Services and discovering over 10,000 lifesaving products and solutions.
11. North East Ambulance Volunteer Awards
Taking place in Newcastle, this ceremony celebrates the efforts of volunteers up and down the North East. WEL Medical were proud sponsors of the event, and we felt privileged to be asked to present some awards in recognition of the work done by the community first responders, ambulance car service drivers, hospital porters, ambassadors and more.
Above: WEL Medical’s Andy was delighted to present awards at the North East Ambulance Volunteer awards.
12. Safety & Health Expo
The UK’s leading health & safety event, the Safety & Health Expo, brings together exhibitors from across the industry. Hundreds of leading health and safety suppliers demonstrated everything from workwear to behavioural safety programmes and from harnesses to BLS training.
This year, we were fortunate enough to have a stand at the Expo, displaying our vast range of defibrillators, cabinets and cases, all dedicated to saving lives. This was an excellent opportunity for us to meet like-minded groups and individuals and discuss how we can work together to strengthen the chain of survival further.
Discover Lifesaving Solutions with WEL Medical
One thing that links these fantastic opportunities we’ve had throughout the last year is that they’re laser-focused on saving lives. We’re proud that the excellent work done by volunteers, community groups and others is supported by our extensive range of lifesaving solutions.
We encourage you to view our shop to find out more about our products or get in touch with us today with any queries.
