Total Rail Solutions (TRS) decided to install defibrillators because, particularly working on the rail network, operatives are often working some distance from site access points. Should they fall ill with a heart condition that requires resuscitation, the chance of survival is greatly increased if a defibrillator can be quickly mobilised and used.
Total Rail Solutions chief executive Paul Bateman said: “This is an important issue for our people and the people working on the rail and infrastructure projects we work on. My father suffered a heart attack, thankfully a passing off-duty paramedic administered a defibrillator and saved his life. So I truly understand why this is the right thing to do for the business, our people and their families.”
In addition to the 10 new units now put into the TRS fleet, the company has previously installed defibrillators at its various plant yards.
Heart disease accounts for 25% of all deaths in the UK, a person dies of heart disease every three minutes. Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease and is the most common cause of heart attack, it was the single biggest killer of both men and women worldwide in 2019.
Around 1.4 million people are alive today in the UK having survived a heart attack. The number of defibrillators across the country has grown steadily, with the total number now more than 10,000. If a defibrillator is administered within the first three to five minutes of an arrest, the likelihood of survival is as high as 74%.
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