Fones4life Irish Times News Article
Call for defibrillators in all schools after death
Reporter: LOUISE HOLDEN Friday, April 29, 2011
A WATERFORD principal has launched a campaign to provide defibrillators to all schools after her seven-year-old niece died of sudden cardiac arrest on a school trip last year.
Becky Whelan of Crehena National School in Waterford collapsed in an activity centre in Waterford last June. She was brought to Waterford Regional Hospital but did not recover.
It was later discovered Becky suffered from a genetic disorder known as Long QT syndrome, which causes abnormalities in the hearts’ electrical system.
Becky’s aunt Breda Fitzgerald is principal of the nearby Newtown Upper National School. Together with Becky’s mother Bridget Anne Whelan, Ms Fitzgerald has launched a campaign to provide all schools with defibrillators in conjunction with an Irish company called HeartSafety Solutions.
“We set about raising awareness about equipping local schools with defibrillators,” Ms Fitzgerald told delegates at the INTO conference in Sligo yesterday. “We are working with a company that will provide a defibrillator and training to schools in exchange for 250 old mobile phones.
Six schools in our area have already got defibrillators through this campaign. We want to spread the message to other schools.” HeartSafety Solutions is a Dublin-based manufacturer of defibrillators and first aid equipment. The company runs a schools’ programme called Fones4Life through which schools can exchange used mobile phones for defibrillators. Heartsafety Solutions http://www.hearts.ie/
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0428/1224295620979.html
Fones4life Irish Examiner News Article
Schoolgirl’s family lead campaign for defibrillators
Irish Examiner Thursday, April 28, 2011 By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent
The sudden death of a seven-year-old Waterford girl could save other lives thanks to her family’s campaign to get defibrillators into every school in the country.
Becky Whelan was on a trip with her classmates from Crehana National School last June when her heart suddenly stopped during some light physical activity. “The teachers reacted straight away, she was within three minutes of the hospital in Waterford city but there was nothing they could do and sadly she didn’t recover,” said Becky’s aunt, Breda Fitzgerald.
Her parents Vincent and Bridget Ann later found out she had a genetic condition known as long QT syndrome which caused an electric short in her heart. She had passed out a few times previously but the rare condition was not linked to it until after she died.
After the initial shock, trauma and confusion, Bridget Ann and Breda, who is Vincent’s sister, decided to try and ensure other families don’t suffer similar tragedy.
They read about how young Dublin man Seaghan Kearney was one of a tiny number of adults to survive a sudden cardiac arrest similar to that which killed Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen. He told them about an awareness campaign run by the Mater Heart Foundation.
“We think every school should have a defibrillator that could be used if something like this happens in class or away on trips or at matches because there’s just a few minutes in which a life can be saved.
“The Department of Education should put them in all schools but we are helping schools to get their own,” Breda said.
The principal of a 52-pupil school in Newtown Upper, near Carrick- on-Suir, Co Tipperary, told the INTO annual congress about the Becky’s Beat website highlighting Sudden Cardiac Arrest in children and the Fones4Life campaign.
Run by Irish company Heartsafety Solutions, it gives a defibrillator worth around €1,200 to schools, clubs and community groups in exchange for 250 old mobile phones for recycling. Training is offered for extra phones or a small fee.
“We got a defibrillator into our own school and along with five others in the area including Becky’s school, teachers are doing training next week. As principal, I feel more secure now, it goes everywhere with us on school activities, it’s only the size of a lunchbox,” said Breda.
“This will never bring her back but it’s giving us huge hope, and it’s given her mum and dad the satisfaction that they may help somebody else’s child.”
http://www.beckysbeat.ie/ http://www.hearts.ie/ http://www.fones4life.ie/
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, April 28, 2011
Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/schoolgirls-family-lead-campaign-for-defibrillators-152786.html#ixzz1KtsEFNsV
Fones4life Irish Independent News Article
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl who died when her heart stopped on a class day out has inspired a campaign to equip all schools with life-saving defibrillators.
It was only after Becky Whelan’s death last June that her parents, Vincent and Brigid-Ann, discovered she was suffering from a rare heart condition called Long QT Syndrome.
Becky, from Carrick-on-Suir, Co Waterford, was just minutes from a hospital when the incident occurred, but it wasn’t close enough to save her.
Now her family is urging all schools to make the life-saving device a must-have.
Becky’s old school, Crehana, outside Carrick-on-Suir, is one of six in the area that now have defibrillators and staff are being trained in their use.
Becky’s aunt, Breda Fitzgerald, is principal of one of those schools, Newtown Upper, and raised the issue at the Irish National Teachers Organisation conference, where she was a delegate.
“Becky was engaged in low-level physical activity when her heart stopped and sadly she didn’t recover,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “She was in Waterford city and only three minutes from the hospital. The teachers reacted straight away.”
After Becky’s death, the family made contact with footballer Seaghan Kearney, whose life was saved by a defibrillator at his GAA club and who is now raising awareness on the issue.
Although defibrillators cost about €1,200 to buy, schools can trade 250 mobile phones for one under the FONES4LIFe recycling initiative.
Ms Fitzgerald said the six schools had no difficulty collecting phones, but she would like the Department of Education to fund the purchase of defibrillators.
- Katherine Donnelly
Irish Independent
http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/little-girls-death-motivates-defibrillator-campaign-2631840.html
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