Crossgar leads the way in NI with first kiosk defibrillator

Crossgar leads the way in NI with first kiosk defibrillator

20 March 2013

CROSSGAR is the first area in Northern Ireland to play a pioneering role in the treatment of cardiac care.

The village now has its very own defibrillator which is located in a former telephone box in the heart of the village and over 100 people have been trained how to use the lifesaving equipment.

Crossgar was selected as the first area in the Province to trial a community-based first aid training and equipment project, in partnership with Queen’s University’s Medical Faculty.

The defibrillator is located in a telephone kiosk at the Station Road junction with Downpatrick Street opposite AJ’s Diner, with the Crossgar pilot part of a project being supported by the British Red Cross. The initiative, which is part of a project supported by the British Red Cross,is also backed by BT and Down Council.

The defibrillator can diagnose and treat life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias which lead to cardiac arrest and is available 24 hours a day. It is housed in a high-visibility, vandal-resistant heated cabinet in the telephone kiosk and can be opened under instruction from the Ambulance Service by dialling 999.

The Crossgar project will be monitored for a period and, if successful, the initiative could be rolled out across the Province.

The original idea of using a BT phone box to house a defibrillator came from a collaboration between the Medical Faculty at Queen’s, Crossgar GP Dr. Nigel Hart and the British Red Cross.

Two medical students from Queen’s also conducted a community research project to establish local appetite for the project in Crossgar, with villagers raising £4,000 to fund it.

Around 100 local residents and business people took part in community first aid courses organised by the Red Cross and Down Council purchased the Crossgar kiosk for a £1 under BT’s adopt a kiosk scheme.

Dr. Hart explained that apart from benefiting the Crossgar community, the defibrillator can also be used on visitors to the village who become ill.

“A defibrillator in the centre of Crossgar will be a real asset and could help save lives in the future,” he added.

Down Council chairman Mickey Coogan has praised everyone involved in the Crossgar initiative and is pleased the local village is the first in the region to have a its own community defibrillator.

Crossgar councillor Terry Andrews, who was also involved in the initiative to bring the lifesaving equipment to Crossgar, is delighted it’s now in place. He is also one of the 100 local people who have been trained how to use the defibrillator.

“The importance of equipping people with the skills and equipment they need to help save lives cannot be emphasised enough,” Councillor Andrews added. “I would like to thank the officers and members of Crossgar Golf Club who organised events to raise funds to buy the equipment.”