THE family and friends of much-loved Wilmslow paramedic Paul Walton, who died before Christmas, have raised more than £6,000 to fund defibrillators in his memory.
Sara Harris, a family friend and colleague of Paul, said: “If someone suffers a cardiac arrest, commencing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and getting and using a defibrillator on them in as short a time as possible gives them the best chance of survival.
“Seconds count. For every minute a patient doesn’t have access to a defibrillator and CPR their chance of survival drops by nearly 10 per cent.”
Sarah said Paul, a father of four, was actively involved supporting his community in sports, music, Beavers and even mountain rescue.
She added: “His warm and witty personality, combined with his extensive knowledge, was a benefit to all. He strived to provide first-class support, whether he was at work as a paramedic or at play.
“Paul spent his life helping others, so in his memory we want to place as many defibrillators in the community as possible.”
In the UK there are more than 60,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year, but fewer than one in 10 patients survive to leave hospital.
However, according to the Resus Council UK, immediate bystander CPR and the use of a defibrillator before an ambulance crew arrives can dramatically increase the chance of survival to more than 50 per cent.
Sara said while this was great news, it was only possible if there was easy access to defibrillators and people trained in CPR across our communities.
She said: “It’s no good businesses, sports clubs and other organisations thinking because there is a defibrillator a five-minute walk away it’s OK. It’s not. That’s too late for the patient.
“What a tribute to Paul it would be if we can put as many defibrillators as possible across our communities as well as training people in CPR.
“If we can save just one life we would be continuing Paul’s work and he would have been utterly delighted.”
If you would like to contribute to the campaign there is a JustGiving page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/paul-walton
If you are a local business and can support the campaign you can also contact Sarah from this page.
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