Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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456. To ask the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to a request from a school (details supplied) in County Donegal for the provision of a defibrillator; the funding options and appropriate channels through which such a device may be applied for and sought; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5918/17]

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The decision to install a defibrillator is made at local school level and is a matter for the board of management of each individual school. Applications to the HSE for lottery funding to help with the purchase of defibrillators may be made.

One of the means to help improve health outcomes in this area is through the expansion of the National First Response Network. Community first responder groups comprise this national network. These are people from local communities who are trained in basic life support and the use of defibrillators that attend a potentially life threatening emergency in their area. They are then able to provide an early intervention in situations such as heart attack or cardiac arrest by providing, among other things, resuscitation and defibrillation.

Cardiac First Responders (CFR) Ireland, launched in 2015, is the national umbrella organisation for Community First Responders Groups. CFR Ireland works with the National Ambulance Service, Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council and the Centre for Emergency Medical Science UCD. There are currently 141 Community First Responder groups tasked by the National Ambulance Service. If an emergency 999/112 call for cardiac arrest, choking, chest pain or breathing difficulties is made to the National Ambulance Service in an area where a CFR group is established, the on-duty CFR member gets a text from the National Ambulance Service at the same time that an ambulance is despatched with location and call details. The First Responder then goes straight to the scene and administers initial care (defibrillation if required) until the National Ambulance Service Emergency resources arrive.