Scotmid Co-operative has been shortlisted for two national awards for installing life-saving defibrillators in many of its stores and implementing staff training. Scotmid is in the running to win both the large business of the year and the retail business of the year categories at the UK Heart Safe Awards 2014.
The awards celebrate organisations who invest in creating heart safe environments, by providing defibrillators and staff training to save the life of a person suffering from a cardiac arrest.
Scotmid was shortlisted for installing defibrillators in over 40 locations across Scotland and the North of England, and investing in a training programme for over 250 staff. Scotmid was the first UK retailer to put defibrillators in a large number of its stores.
The winners of the UK Heart Safe Awards will be announced on 2 October at a special ceremony in Manchester.
Laura Paterson, Scotmid’s Membership and Community Officer manages the defibrillator project. She said: “Over the past three years, Scotmid has invested a great deal into supporting our most vulnerable communities with defibrillators. We have been very lucky to work closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service in doing this and their guidance has ensured that our defibrillators are placed in the right locations with the correct levels of training and support given to our stores.”
“For Scotmid’s achievements to be recognised in two categories by the UK Heart Safe Awards is wonderful and I am very excited to find out whether we can clinch the titles in October.”
Scotmid has been working with the Scottish Ambulance Service since 2011 to bring defibrillators to communities where they are most needed, such as remote areas and places of high cardiac arrest.
A defibrillator is a life-saving machine that gives the heart an electric shock to restart during cardiac arrest. Acting quickly when someone is in cardiac arrest is crucially important – every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces survival by 10%. A defibrillator can increase the chance of survival by 50%.