Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation has launched its Defibuary campaign to raise money and awareness for defibrillators in the island.
The charity is aiming to raise £20,000 this month for 10 more public access defibrillators.
The campaign also aims to make island residents aware of where the current public access defibrillators are and who is in charge of the upkeep and maintenance of them.
Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation was set up in memory of local footballer Craig Lunt in 2005, following his death which was caused by an undiagnosed heart defect.
Over the years, it has provided the island with 560 defibrillators.
Paul Healey BEM, chairman of Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, said: ‘There are so many machines around the island that people don’t know about but also that the ambulance service don’t have on their radar.’
He added: ‘These machines, that Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation buys, are not our machines anymore, they are the responsibility of the organisation or the person that has signed up for it. We do have a few that have been registered on the ambulance service map which shows all of the defibrillators that the ambulance service has registered in the island.
‘But again, the ambulance service is fully aware of where these machines are because they are on the map.
‘The moment that the pads and the batteries run out of date on these machines they drop off the ambulance service map, until someone comes back to the ambulance service and says we have put new pads and batteries in and these are the new expiry dates.
‘Some people are not aware that they have to keep the ambulance service up to date with any changes that they may make to these public defibrillators.’
He added: ‘The other part, which is raising money for the 10 new public access defibrillators, is because the public has come to us and asked if they can have one in a certain area.
‘We have a list of various places that are on our radar, but we just don’t have the defibrillators or the outside boxes purchased yet to fulfil these needs.’
This, it believes, will help the public know where the nearest defibrillators are.
It also urges anyone that has a defibrillator to ensure it’s registered with the Isle of Man Ambulance Service, and updated if the defibrillator has been fitted with new pads or batteries.
Mr Healey said: ‘Statistics show that if a defibrillator is used on a patient within a few minutes of cardiac arrest they have a 60 to 70% chance of making a full recovery, that is why it is so important that there are defibrillators, and people know where they are.’
You can access the map on www.defibs.im