The Stephen Carey Fund have forged a new partnership with local beat officers from Northumbria Police which ultimately will see the provision of two portable defibrillators for officers based within Seahouses and Rothbury to utilise.
Officers Phil Jack and Andy Harle approached the charity a few weeks ago requesting a meeting and it is fair to say did a great job of demonstrating their support for our cause, their desire to save lives whilst detailing their case for our help.
Andy and Phil have pledged to fundraise over the coming weeks and months towards the cost of the defibrillators which will be utilised within one of the vehicles operating from each of the respective stations.
Andy explained that he and his colleagues from Seahouses cover an areas of approximately 700 square miles and in a number of instances are the first on scene when an incident occurs. “Whilst I have advanced emergency life support training and a substantial amount of equipment given the rural environment we operate within I simply felt a defibrillator was the final piece of the jigsaw that will help me increase the chance of a casualty surviving should I be first on scene following an incident” commented Mr Harle.
The pair are now planning a series of fundraising efforts to cover the purchase of the first device and towards the planned acquisition of the second device which would be located in Rothbury.
Scott McEwan, Chairman of The Stephen Carey Fund, stated “this was a challenging proposition for us to deal with as it is far removed from our main drive to place defibrillators within cabinets for public access but when the pair explained their reasons and offered to raise the funds towards the cost of the devices we knew what the right option was”.
Andy went on to explain “in an ideal world all emergency services vehicles would carry such equipment but we don’t live in that world and funds are being squeezed in all areas so we wanted to personnally make a difference on behalf of the communities we operate within”.
