Beccles family donates defibrillator to GoodSAM volunteer
It follows the death of a family member
Martin Grove, GoodSAM volunteer and East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) emergency medical technician, now has his own defibrillator to attend patients.
GoodSAM alerts appropriately trained, off-duty or volunteer healthcare professionals to patients who are suffering a cardiac arrest within an 800-metre radius of where they are.
Last February, Martin was called to attend a patient, Penny Ling, and was not able to save her.
When Martin got the call about the collapse, he had to decide whether to go one way and grab the local automated external defibrillator (AED) or head straight to the patient.
Martin Grove said:
“With a cardiac arrest, every second count, and whilst an AED is important, it is also crucial to carry out CPR and be able to continue it until help arrives. I took the decision to go directly to the patient.”
Penny’s husband George and daughter Erican Brennan contacted Martin shortly afterwards to let him know they wanted to donate so he could get a defibrillator of his own to use on GoodSAM calls.
Erica Brennan said:
“Myself, my sister and lots of our family and friends live in and around Beccles and it was important to us that the next time Martin got a call he would be able to head straight to his patient and have a defibrillator on hand. It was something we could do in mum’s memory that, hopefully, will make a big difference to patients in our area in the future."
Martin added:
"This generous donation really will make a difference to many lives. When a call comes in, I can just head straight to every patient and hopefully save some of those vital early minutes."