Putting heart at the forefront of our business.

We are putting the heart at the forefront of our business.

We are very pleased to announce a lifechanging new addition to Magenta and to our wider community – the installation of a Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) at our facility here in St Albans.

The defibrillator network is growing across the UK, and the chances are you have already heard about them being installed here and there over the last few years – but just why are defibrillators becoming more common on the high street, and why did we apply to have one?

What are defibrillators and why do we need them?

A defibrillator is a device that gives a controlled electric shock to someone who is in cardiac arrest. When a person goes into cardiac arrest, their heart stops pumping blood around the body. Restarting their heart is essential, and time is of the essence.

According to the British Heart Foundation, less than 1 in 10 people in the UK survive cardiac arrest outside of a hospital. Treatment for a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is by defibrillator or by CPR, and there are just not enough people trained in CPR. By having more defibrillators in the community, there is a much higher chance of having one nearby in an emergency.

Why has Magenta St Albans got a defibrillator in store?

Magenta Self Storage have been a part of the St Albans community for over 10 years. We appreciate all the support we have had from our customers and local businesses, and we want to give something back. After all, a community is built by all working together.

The Magenta team got together to decide how we best felt we could add to the community and leave a lasting legacy for the area as well. Sponsoring a PAD was the clear winner. The Magenta St Albans facility is in a very domestic area in the north of the town with schools and lots of footfall passing the store regularly. Placing a defibrillator here would be easily accessible for a large part of the community. And while we did look into funding, none was available to us at the time, so Magenta provided 100% of the costs ourselves.

The Circuit and training to use a defibrillator

The key thing about having a defibrillator nearby is that when it’s needed, the emergency services know it’s available. So, our defibrillator will be listed on The Circuit – a nationwide database of defibrillator locations that can be accessed when needed.

Of course, you don’t have to be medically trained to use the defibrillator. In the case of an emergency, it gives clear spoken instructions itself to guide you. All you do is dial 999, and they will be able to access The Circuit to identify your nearest PAD and guide you to it. We have placed the Magenta defibrillator outside of our building, so that it can be accessed in an emergency 24 hours a day.

However, the Magenta team wanted to go one step further. Our store manager is already first aid trained, but all of our team will shortly also be undertaking CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training via e-learning.

Funding options for a Public Access Defibrillator

Increasing the number of defibrillators in the community is essential to save lives. If you are considering applying for a PAD, then you may be able to find grants or schemes to help. Details may be on your local council website or in the local paper, or on the BHF website. We saw an article in the St Albans & Harpenden Review about upcoming funding availability, although we did not qualify for it ourselves.

It’s never nice to think that anyone will go into cardiac arrest, but we know that if we need it, the Magenta defibrillator is now close by and ready to help the St Albans community.