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THE ribbons were last week cut on the three newly installed Public Access Defibrillators in the Kilcummin Parish, in Coolick and Anabla National Schools and at the village’s post office.
The hard-working members of Kilcummin Defibrillator Group, consisting of William Fleming, Derek O Leary, Sheila O’Connor, Johnny Guerin and Senator Maire Moloney have been busy fundraising over the last nine months and with the support of the local community and the Killarney Credit Union, they have purchased and erected the 3 units in prominent locations in the Kilcummin locality.
“We are delighted to have three units erected in such a short space of time,” said William Fleming. “We imagined it would take longer to fund raise the amount of money required, but it seems the people of Kilcummin understand the importance of having these life saving devices available and have supported us in a manner that sees the three units in place.”
Derek O'Leary, another member of the group and who is well known and involved in many of the existing defibrillator groups and CPR training initiatives in Kerry, also pointed out the training sessions organised to support the use of the defibrillators.
“We have arranged two dates to facilitate the community in learning the skills of CPR and defibrillator use. Thursday the 9th of June at 7.30pm and Saturday the 18th of June at 9.30am are the dates scheduled for the training and both courses will be held in the Kilcummin GAA Club House. We hope that we will have a large turnout on both dates and at a cost of just €10 per person, its great value for this 2 hour Irish Heart Foundation course that could help save a persons life”.
“We are encouraging everyone in Kilcummin to make themselves aware of the locations of the units which are located on Coolick and Anabla national schools and Kilcummin Post Office. The first 10 minutes of a cardiac event are critical and to be prepared is a huge part of a positive outcome. These units are available for use by the general public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year,” said Derek.