Shropshire’s out-of-hours GP service has donated a potentially life-saving piece of equipment to the organisers of a community running event in Shrewsbury.
Shropdoc has provided a defibrillator for the Shrewsbury parkrun, which sees up to 400 people of all ages and abilities running a 5km course in The Quarry every week.
Emma Feely, patient liaison officer at Shropdoc, said: “We are delighted to support organisations in our local community.
“We were made aware that Shrewsbury parkrun were looking for a defibrillator and as we have spare machines being available due to scheduled replacement of equipment at Shropdoc Primary care Centres we wanted to donate one to them.
“The defibrillators are still in perfect working condition and as an organisation we felt that providing lifesaving equipment to the community we serve was a demonstration of the values we promote as a Social Enterprise.
“We know that lots of people from across Shrewsbury and the surrounding areas take part in the parkrun on a regular basis.
“We believe that the availability of a defibrillator and easy access to it in a situation of need can only contribute to saving lives.”
Paul Bowes, event director of Shrewsbury parkrun, said they were delighted with donation and the aim of parkrun UK was to have defibrillators at all parkrun venues across the UK by 2017.
He said: “We recognise that treating the victim of a cardiac arrest as soon as possible can dramatically increase the survival rate, so it is vital to have this kind of equipment to hand.
“We put the plea out for raising donations and very quickly received the email from Emma at ShropDoc who is also a parkrunner.
“It really was a generous offer from ShropDoc and hopefully we can repay their good faith by encouraging a healthy active lifestyle in our community.
“In the three years Shrewsbury parkrun has been in existence I have seen time and time again the wonderful community we have in this town.
“The events are really popular, with between 350 and 400 people taking part, and they all-inclusive with no entry fee so we have runners from four years old up to people in their 80s taking part.”
Shropdoc provides urgent GP services to people when their surgery is closed – 0333 222 66 55 – for more information see the website www.shropdoc.org.uk or @shropdocOOH
Paul Bowes, Event Director of Shrewsbury parkrun receives the defibrillator from Emma Feely, of Shropdoc.
Photograph by Colin Williamson
