A life-saving defibrillator has been installed at Boreham Wood Football Club thanks to support from the Football Association (FA) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
Players, staff and fans at the club will be able to use the defibrillator to help anyone suffering a heart attack.
The club has also been given potentially life-saving tips about hands-only CPR, a technique promoted for the BHF by football hard nut Vinnie Jones.
Two-thirds of the cost of the defibrillator was donated to the club by the FA and the BHF.
Megan Reid, the Club’s Clinical lead, said: “This vital piece of equipment could prove to be the difference between life and death and it’s a welcome addition to this club and community.
“The FA and BHF have made it possible for Boreham Wood Football Club to be part of the drive to improve the UK’s poor cardiac arrest survival rates.
“Along with CPR, a defibrillator is a vital link in the chain of survival and we’re lucky that we now have the skills and equipment at the club to save a life.”
Awareness around heart attacks was raised when former England Under-21 star Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest when playing for Bolton against Tottenham in March last year.
Only around one in five people survive a witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK.
A defibrillator also known as an Automated External Defibrillator or AED, gives the heart a controlled electrical shock during cardiac arrest.
For every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation, chances of survival decrease by about 10%.
Research shows giving CPR and a controlled shock within five minutes of collapse provides the best chance of survival if CPR is done well.
