Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies MP made a visit to the O2 store in Rhyl to raise awareness of the defibrillator now available for his constituents.
Virgin Media O2 has rolled out defibrillators to all company owned stores across the UK – greatly increasing access to life-saving equipment on hundreds of High Streets in partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
More than 200 defibrillators are now available and Virgin Media O2 is in the process of registering them on BHF’s National Defibrillator Network, The Circuit, meaning 999 call handlers will be able to quickly direct people to nearby stores in an emergency.
Alongside the roll out, Virgin Media O2 has also been training more staff – including those working in stores – in CPR, with hundreds of employees taking part in online sessions and in-person training.
James recently visited the Rhyl store to hear about this vital work increasing the number of defibrillators in the constituency and spoke to the in-store staff about the CPR training they have received.
With every minute without access to CPR and defibrillation reducing the chance of survival by up to 10 per cent, he is urging more people to take the time to learn these life saving skills in case they are ever needed.
Speaking after the visit, James said:
“What an incredible initiative for Virgin Media O2 to roll out and I am pleased that this life-saving defibrillator is available to my constituents in Rhyl in emergency situations. It was great to meet the O2 store team in the White Rose Shopping Centre and I encourage all my constituents to take part in the free CPR RevivR training via the British Heart Foundation website. I only hope that other companies follow suit, and we can help save many valuable lives and families.”
Gareth Turpin, Chief Commercial Officer, Mobile at Virgin Media O2 said:
“We’re using our national network of High Street stores to improve access to life-saving defibrillators and make a real difference to the communities we serve like in Rhyl. It’s not just in stores where we hope we can make an impact; we’ve trained hundreds of our people in lifesaving CPR and zero-rated the BHF website and GoodSam app, so millions more people can learn vital skills or offer help in an emergency without using any of their data.
“With every second counting in a crisis, and CPR training taking just 15 minutes, there’s never been a better time to learn how to save a life.”
Zero-rated apps to support customers and the NHS
Despite more than 64% of people knowing someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest and 90% agreeing it’s important to help as best you can in this situation, just 19% have had CPR training in the last year and only 21% would feel confident using a defibrillator.
To help make learning CPR more accessible than ever, O2 has zero-rated data charges for the BHF’s website, meaning customers can access the charity’s free, interactive 15-minute CPR training progamme, RevivR – as well as helpful information, advice and videos – without using any of their mobile data allowance.
This is in addition to O2 zero-rating the NHS GoodSAM app – which is used to alert nearby first responders when someone is suffering a cardiac arrest – so they can start CPR in the critical minutes before emergency services arrive at the scene.
