Healthy Heart Drive aims to save lives in Midlands

Monday, October 25, 2021 - 10:35
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A COMMERCIAL vehicle distributor has launched an ambitious drive to install lifesaving heart defibrillators within the community.

Hartshorne Group is partnering with the West Midlands Ambulance Service about where best to locate the medical devices, which can save the life of somebody experiencing a cardiac arrest.

The company says that as well as installing defibrillators, its Healthy Heart Campaign will also be kind to the planet by encouraging staff to walk or cycle to work in order to raise funds.

“We know how important a healthy heart is, so we wanted to do something that benefits not just our staff but also the whole community,” said Hartshorne Managing Director Ian Middleton.

Over 30,000 people a year in the UK suffer a cardiac arrest that takes place somewhere other than a hospital. Less than one in ten survive. Defibrillators come with voice instructions and can be used by anyone to help restart a heart in an emergency.

Andy Jeynes, Community Response Manager for West Midlands Ambulance Service recently visited Hartshorne Group in order to provide advice to staff.

Andy said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Hartshorne Group to help advise on its campaign. Defibrillators save lives, it’s as simple as that.”

Hartshorne, which supplies and services Volvo commercial vehicles, will donate £1 towards community-based defibrillators for every hour of physical exercise that staff track via an app. The company is also paying for defibrillators to be installed at all of its depots across the Midlands.

Customers can show their support by making a donation when they use a Healthy Heart demonstrator truck (pictured). The first defibrillator has been installed outside the company’s hub in Erdington, Birmingham.

Ian Middleton added: “We saw during the Euros 2021 with Christian Eriksen, and more recently in the crowd during a Premier League football game, that cardiac arrests can occur unexpectedly at any place.”

There is also an environmental aspect to the campaign. Hartshorne, which is converting its company car fleet to hybrids, says that if staff choose to walk or cycle to work from a range of eligible physical activities, it will boost not only their own health but lower carbon footprints.


source: UKHaulier

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