Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

A few months ago I proposed that we should copy what the French are doing with defibrillators. They have introduced legislation that any company employing more than 50 people should have a defibrillator on the premises with staff trained to use it. A report this week by the Health Research Board shows that if a defibrillator was available in GPs' surgeries, thousands of lives would be saved. If one has a cardiac arrest away from hospital, the chance of survival is only one in 20. A defibrillator costs approximately ¤40,000. If we could provide them in every GP's surgery with people trained to use them, the number of lives saved would be substantial. Such a step could be easily taken. Encouragement must be provided along the lines recommended by the Health Research Board. We could move on the issue immediately.