Heart-felt donation to Mangakino community after RWC 2011
The Rugby World Cup is over – but the benefits of the Cup are still continuing in local communities around New Zealand, as Mangakino receives its very own defibrillator from St John and Philips.
Philips donated twenty Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to each of the Rugby World Cup teams. These AEDs have now been returned to St John to give back to local communities in New Zealand.
St John District Operations Manager, Norm Riedinger says, “AEDs are lifesaving pieces of equipment. they give a short electric shock to the heart allowing the it to regain its natural rhythm after a person suffers a cardiac arrest or (more commonly known as) a heart attack. Having an AED available can increase the chance of a person’s survival by up to 40 per cent”
“We are planning to donate them to the communities where the teams were based. Taupō District hosted the Wales, Ireland and South African teams during the Cup so it is only fitting the Taupō community receives an AED” says Norm.
“The FX AED Defibrillators were kindly donated to St John by Philips Healthcare and we worked with the local council to determine the best place for the AED to be situated. The Mangakino community have recently expressed that they needed a defibrillator. The Community Led Group have also reiterated that need as the community has only one unit located in the ambulance; when that ambulance is called out of town it leaves the community without one.”
Mangakino’s Councillor, Kirsty Trueman [pictured holding defibrillator], says that the community is humbled by the gift. “On behalf of the Mangakino community I would like to acknowledge and thank Philips and St John for generously donating this defibrillator to our community. We are grateful to have such a valuable resource that could help to save the lives of our residents and visitors.
“We encourage members of the community to learn CPR and learn to use an AED. It’s easy and you could save someone’s life. Heroes aren’t born – they are trained.”