Two pubs in Douglas West, Cork City, have united to install a defibrillator for reassurance to customers and the local village. O’Sullivan’s and the South County recently had a defibrillator installed and had 12 of their key staff members specially trained in case of emergency.

“Around 13 people die every day in Ireland as a result of sudden cardiac arrest, however some of these lives could be saved if more people knew CPR”, the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has said.

According to the Irish Heart Foundation website, “In the event of a collapse from cardiac arrest, every minute is vital, but without CPR or defibrillation, their chance of survival falls by up to 10% a minute. After just five minutes, that person may only have a 50% chance of survival”.

With this in mind, Tom O’Connor and Donal O’Sullivan proprietors of the two popular bars, decided that this would be money well spent. “Of course our wish would be that we would never have the need to put our training into action, but if we were to save just one life it would be all worthwhile”, said Donal.

The survival rate of people suffering cardiac arrest in Ireland is poor compared to other countries and it is a fact that the provision of these defibrillator machines with training increases the survival rate in the case of a member of the public suffering a heart attack.

Tom O’Connor remarked that “most of these machines are funded by community fundraisers or by businesses like ourselves. They are so valuable to the community that there should be some State sponsored scheme or grant system to help in the funding of defibrillators for public use”.

That aside, customers at the South County and O’Sullivan’s, Douglas can enjoy their food and drink this Christmas knowing that they will now be better looked after in the event of a medical emergency.