NZ Rugby Foundation AED

The New Zealand Rugby Foundation (NZRF), which cares and advocates for seriously injured rugby players, including supplying life-saving AEDs (automated external defibrillators) nationwide, has launched a new club, The Heart Club, to mark ‘World Restart a Heart Day.’ NZRF Chief Executive, Lisa Kingi-Bon said the newly formed ‘Heart Club’ was a continuation of the NZRF’s longstanding programme of supporting the rugby, and wider community, by supplying and installing AEDs at rugby clubs across New Zealand, so that people had access to the life-saving equipment in the event of a medical emergency. “In 2016, NZRF board member, John "Doc" Mayhew, suffered a cardiac arrest. NZRF President, Andy Dalton, said the former All Blacks doctor would have died - had there not been an AED nearby so that life-saving treatment could be administered without delay. Our Board wanted to ensure that something good came out of the incident. So, we set ourselves the goal of installing AEDs at every rugby club in New Zealand," said Dalton. Of the 480 rugby clubs in New Zealand, 316 clubs have an AED, of which 122 of these clubs have had their AED donated by the NZ Rugby Foundation with the costs amounting to $244,000. (164 are still required.) Funding has been provided by the Lion Foundation, NZ Community Trust, North and South, Freemasons Foundation and Mainland. Dr John Mayhew said he was extremely proud of the NZRF’s effort. “Our AED programme has already gone toward helping save the lives of four people providing by providing first-responders with access to the life-saving equipment.” There are seven cardiac arrests in NZ every day, over 2000 per year and a survival rate of 11%. As part of ‘World Restart a Heart Day’ the NZRF has launched The ‘Heart Club’. Andy Dalton said, “The purpose of this exclusive club is to recognise and celebrate the lives of our rugby players, and their families and communities. The club also provides a peer support group for people affected by heart and other medical incidents. This is our way of being part of the wider global community which recognises care and wellbeing.”

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