Club receive life-saving equipment
The Hatters have been equipped with a life-saving new defibrillator, with the help of the Football Association (FA) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
In a unique partnership between the BHF and the FA, more than 900 defibrillators have been made available to clubs at Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System and clubs in the Women’s Super League to help save the lives of cardiac arrest casualties.
The Hatters are the latest club to install a defibrillator, giving players, staff and fans access to the equipment needed to save lives in their community. The club was also given information about Hand-only CPR, which was made famous for the BHF by football legend Vinnie Jones.
Two-thirds of the cost of the defibrillator was provided to the club by the FA and BHF, whilst money from the club fund of the PPD provided the rest of the money in order to purchase this life-saving machine.
Town head physiotherapist Simon Parsell told Talk of the Town: “This vital piece of equipment could prove to be the difference between life and death and it’s a welcome addition to this club and its community.
“The FA and BHF have made it possible for Luton Town to be part of the drive to improve the UK’s poor cardiac arrest survival rates. Along with CPR, a defibrillator is a vital link in the chain of survival and we’re lucky that we now have the skills and equipment at the club to save a life.”
Awareness around sudden cardiac arrests was heightened when former England under-21 star, Fabrice Muamba, suffered a cardiac arrest in the Tottenham Hotspur versus Bolton Wanderers FA Cup tie on March 17th last year. Muamba’s story is even more remarkable as only around one in five people normally survive a witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK.