Northern Bear : Defibrillators for all Northern Bear Company premises

A suggestion by an employee has led to the supply of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) at all Northern Bear Group premises.

Sarah Fryer, Accounts Manager at A1 Industrial Trucks, watched on in horror when Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed 43 minutes into Denmark's Euro match against Finland on 12^th June 2021. The Danish International required CPR and a shock from a defibrillator to get his heart pumping again.

The quick reactions from the stadium medical staff and the availability of a defibrillator were credited with saving Eriksen's life that fateful evening.

"It was awful to watch the drama unfold," noted Sarah, "I began to think about how I would react if I found myself in a similar situation. With the use of the defibrillator being cited as a main reason Christian survived, I decided to see if we could get one at work."

Sarah was surprised at the reaction to her suggestion, "I knew they were expensive, so I wasn't sure if it would be possible or not, but almost immediately I was told that, not only would we get one for our building, but also for all the other Group company premises. I was really pleased!"

Keith Soulsby, Group Operations Director, confirmed that it was an easy decision to make, "We have always said that our people are our most important asset, and this was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate that by providing this life saving equipment at all our premises."

The defibrillators themselves are very easy to use. "The defibs issue verbal instructions in their use and will not deliver a shock if the unit detects a regular heartbeat. Although not required, we felt that people may feel more comfortable if they had received some formal training" said Jason Harrison, Managing Director of Northern Bear Safety, "so we arranged for the Northeast Ambulance Service to provide some formal training, which was well received."

The defibrillators are now in place at all Northern Bear Company premises.