Success for Welsh Ambulance Service’s Defibuary Campaign

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A record number of people got involved in the Welsh Ambulance Service’s annual #Defibuary campaign on Twitter.

Launched in January by Gavin & Stacey actress Melanie Walters, the online drive aimed to highlight the locations of as many life-saving public access defibrillators across Wales as possible.

Keen spotters took to the streets and hills of Wales to get creative with their selfies and snaps of these vital apparatus, leaving location details to ensure the national database is up to date.

There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK and a person’s chance of surviving will decrease by 10% every minute without good quality CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and early defibrillation.

Heading up the campaign was Fiona Maclean, of the Trust’s Patient Engagement and Community Involvement Team, who said: “It’s been a brilliant campaign and we had 181 submissions from all across Wales and more people than ever got involved.

“We wish to thank everybody who took the time to get involved and especially Melanie Walters for her involvement.”

This year, many businesses dug deep and donated prizes to be given to the best entries – everything from visiting the Royal Mint to a Snowdonia Highland Railway trip.

The Welsh Ambulance Service donated two defibrillators as the top prizes.

The first was won by Coed Eva Primary School in Cwmbran who will site it at the school, with the second going to Dionne Hilderbrandt from Kinmel Bay, who will place hers at a local gym.