Putting AEDs in Wellington football clubs
Last week our AED finder app saved a life. Now Liverpool fans are fundraising to put AEDs in Wellington football clubs.
Stuff — file photo
LFC Wellington chair Andrew McGoff said Wellington football clubs had been really appreciative of a drive to install AEDs on sports grounds.
Putting a defibrillator in every Wellington football club is no small task, but it’s something Kiwi Liverpool fans are determined to do.
“If it saves one life then it’s a job done. That’s the way we’re looking at it, from a big picture perspective,” Liverpool Supporters Club of Wellington chairman Andrew McGoff said.
Find an AED when you need it: AED Locations.
The Liverpool Supporters Club (LFC) of Wellington started fundraising for its first Automated External Defibrillator (AED) last year, with the help of Capital Football and New Zealand Football.
Representatives from LFC LFC Wellington, Capital Football, Island Bay United and Wellington Olympic celebrate the first AED installed at Wakefield Park.
For McGoff, the drive to get AEDs in Wellington clubs came from a harrowing personal experience.
“I was driving down the street and saw a guy collapse on the footpath, an older guy. When I rang triple one, they said you need to find a defibrillator.”
But he couldn’t find one. A passerby started performing CPR, but unfortunately the stranger died.
The incident didn’t leave McGoff’s mind and he started thinking, what if that was one of his mates down on the football field one weekend?
Clubs in Australia were working to put AEDs in their sports venues, so McGoff approached Capital Football and New Zealand Football to ask for help in setting up something similar in Wellington.
LFC Wellington started fundraising and New Zealand Football subsidised the cost of the AED, which retails at $3000.
The first AED was installed at Wakefield Park in May. Clubs including Island Bay United, Brooklyn Northern United and Wellington Olympic play at the ground regularly.
Following the first AED installation, LFC Wellington raised enough money to buy another one and are in the middle of confirming where it will be installed.
Someone has also stepped forward to offer funding for a third AED.
“The response from the football community has been hugely supportive. They understand that it’s happening to all demographics in terms of heart issues,” McGoff said.
People were coming to realise it wasn’t just the older, overweight players that didn’t exercise throughout the week that were at risk — people in their twenties and thirties could have heart issues too, he said.
Ideally, he hoped AEDS could be placed so every member of the different football clubs across Wellington had access to one, should the need arise.
ELEANOR WENMAN
Last updated 05:00, June 14 2018
To learn more about putting AEDs in football clubs, or to donate, email hello@lfcwellington.co.nz.
Originally published at www.stuff.co.nz.
