Members of the New Plymouth hospitality community are calling for more funding of defibrillators after a man died from a heart attack outside a pub which had the potentially lifesaving equipment but wasn’t alerted to the situation.
“I was a little frustrated why nobody came to us when this person collapsed," said Kerry Simeon, co-owner of Crowded House Bar and Eatery. “I could have gone over there and helped before the ambulance arrived."
Mandy Berry, manager of Aromas Coffee Lounge, was unaware that the man had collapsed, and was frustrated to learn that people had been looking for a defibrillator.
"I knew Kerry had one and I wish I had known they were looking for one because I would have gone straight to Crowded House," she said.
Both Simeon and Berry are now calling for more businesses to invest in a defibrillator and to better promote where they can be found. There are almost 9000 AED (automatic external defibrillator) machines registered throughout the country, which can be found using the ‘AED Locations’ app or on aedlocations.co.nz.
