Edinburgh's Polwarth Tavern get defibrillator in memory of beloved publican

Edinburgh's Polwarth Tavern get defibrillator in memory of beloved publican
The Polwarth Tavern is the west of the capital hosted a learning day for the community on Sunday October 23 in order for them to understand how to administer CPR.

A defibrillator that was funded by a local community in memory of a much loved publican is now said to be operational.

Alan Laidlaw of the Polwarth Tavern tragically lost his life from a cardiac arrest in 2020. As a way to pay tribute to the larger than life character, locals within the pub and those in the surrounding area chipped in to have the life saving equipment installed.

In order to mark ‘Restart a Heart Day’, members of the Polwarth community were invited for free training on how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by St John Scotland. Ben Prowse, owner, Polwarth Tavern said: “The local community came together to raise the vital funds for this life-saving equipment to help as many people as possible in the local area in memory of our dear friend Alan.

“Over many years Alan was instrumental in doing so much for the local community and this is very fitting in memory of our ‘man of the people’. We are very thankful to all who donated to our raffle and who purchased tickets to raise the funds.

“And we also are extremely grateful for the support from St John Scotland by providing expert training for everyone, and to our local political representatives for continued support.”

Estimates state that the likelihood of survival decreases by 10 per cent with every passing minute for someone suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Early recognition of someone experiencing this issue can be key, so it is felt that access to the equipment is absolutely essential.

You do not necessarily require training to use the equipment and there has been an effort from the Scottish Government to ensure that access to the life saving kit is made more accessible by 2026. Attending the recent training at the Polwarth Tavern was Ian Murray, MP, who said: “The local Polwarth Tavern community has done a tremendous job in getting a community defibrillator installed.

“The initiative came from tragedy, but this will undoubtedly help others. The community training project with St John Scotland will equip many more local people with critical lifesaving skills.

“I was delighted to help support the fundraising efforts and send my congratulations to all involved.”

There are around 3,200 OHCAs a year in Scotland and unless they are treated immediately then they can lead to death in minutes. Only one in 10 survive an OHCA.

The use of a defibrillator is a crucial part of ‘The Chain of Survival’ which is a sequence of steps that together maximise the chance of survival following cardiac arrest. Starting CPR immediately keeps the blood and oxygen circulating to the brain and around the body, with the defibrillator then delivering a controlled electric shock to try and get the heart beating again.

In some circumstances defibrillation within three minutes of a cardiac arrest can increase the chance of survival to above 70 per cent. Unfortunately, currently in Scotland defibrillators are not often used before the arrival of paramedics, with the equipment only being used by the public in around eight per cent of cardiac arrests in Scotland.

Angus Loudon, CEO of St John Scotland, added: ‘We are delighted to assist the local community in Polwarth with this PAD and the associated training. St John Scotland is proud to be working with communities to save lives, and every session of training not only equips people with this potentially life-saving skill, but also takes the number of citizens trained in Bystander CPR ever closer to the Government’s target of one million by 2026.”

The new Polwarth defibrillator is also now registered on ‘The Circuit’ – a UK-wide registry of defibrillators developed by the British Heart Foundation – so the Ambulance Service can notify a caller to have it collected saving time, and in many cases lives.