Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, has rolled out a potentially lifesaving defibrillator and CPR training programme supporting the British Heart Foundation (BHF), to help improve survival rates from cardiac arrest.
There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, but less than one in ten people survive, often because those around them don’t have the skills or confidence to perform CPR.
Now to help save more lives, Dobbies’ 4,000 team members across all 76 of its stores and its Central Support Office are being encouraged to complete RevivR – the BHF’s online tool which teaches vital CPR skills for free in just 15 minutes – and all that is needed is a mobile phone and a firm cushion to practice on.
RevivR shows how to recognise a cardiac arrest, gives feedback on chest compressions and outlines the correct steps of using a defibrillator, giving anyone the confidence to help in the ultimate medical emergency. The retailer has also committed to registering all of its 77 defibrillators, one in each store and Central Support Office, on The Circuit2, the national defibrillator network, which connects defibrillators to NHS ambulance services across the UK. This ensures in those crucial moments after a cardiac arrest, they can be accessed quickly to help save lives.
Dobbies was founded in 1865 by James Dobbie and is headquartered near Edinburgh. It is the UK’s largest garden centre retailer, with 76 stores. The company employs around 4,000 team members.
