The Swindon District Football League is proud to have supported, along with the Premier League, Football Foundation & Wiltshire FA, the funding of new defibrillators which have been placed at grassroots football grounds at Mannington Rec, Southbrook Playing Fields & Seven Fields.

The Premier League’s Defibrillator Fund has enabled SDFL to install an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) at numerous grassroots football grounds, aimed at helping save the life of someone experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest.

At least 12 young people, between ages 12-35 years, die of undiagnosed cardiac conditions in the UK every week and over 30,000 people of all ages suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital every year and less than one in ten survive.

The new defibrillators will be registered with emergency services so any member of the public can use them should an emergency situation occur. These are life saving pieces of equipment and, as recent events have shown, cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at anytime. Having quick access to a defibrillator close to hand can literally mean the difference between life and death.

The Management Committee of the SDFL have issued a statement saying

“Since the events in the summer with Christian Erikson, and subsequent other occasions since, we know how important it is to have these devices at our football playing fields.

We are truly grateful to the Football Foundation and the Premier League for funding this equipment. No training is required as the machine gives clear spoken instructions which you simply follow and to provide comfort, the machine will not shock someone unless they need it”.

Defibrillators don’t all look the same but all function in a very similar way and are easy to use. No training is required as the machine will gives clear spoken instructions which you simply follow and to provide comfort, the machine will not shock someone unless they need it.

A full guide on how to use a defib can be found here: https://www.bhf.org.uk/…/def…/how-to-use-a-defibrillator