How Much Does a Defibrillator Cost in Ireland and How to Pay for It
Here’s a scary fact: anyone can have a cardiac arrest, at any time. Often there are no obvious risk factors. An estimated 6,000 people a year have one in Ireland. And here’s another scary fact: for every minute it takes to find a defibrillator and shock a person in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival reduce by 10%.With CPR and defibrillation, chances of survival can increase ten-fold. That means people often ask how much does a defibrillator cost in the Ireland, to see if they can afford one to help a medical emergency. The answer is thousands, which means many people turn to crowdfunding to cover the cost.
Ways to cover the cost of a defibrillator
A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating, and is no longer pumping blood around their body. It is different from a heart attack when the supply of blood to part of the heart stops.
You’ve probably seen hospital dramas when someone ‘codes’ and is brought back to life by a doctor shocking them while shouting ‘clear’.
This is a process that can be recreated out of hospital with by laypeople with defibrillator – and it can save lives.
Defibrillators are well designed, and will tell you what to do when using them. That means they only instruct people to deliver an electric shock if it is needed. Defibrillators can save lives – which it is why common for shops, workplaces, councils, community groups, schools and villages to fundraise for a defibrillator for the community.
How much does a defibrillator cost?
Princes range from €1000 to €2000, so you might need some help fundraising to cover the cost of a defibrillator.
Public grants
While there is no government support to buy defibrillators, some charities offer grants to help communities buy a defibrillator. One such charity is Croi who established the Solo- Sail Ireland fund after a man named Richard Hayes raised more than €10,000 to provide defibrillators to communities throughout Ireland.
The purpose of the fund is to provide financial support to communities wishing to establish a community access defibrillation programme. Successful applicants are awarded financial support towards the purchase of a defibrillator and towards the training of voluntary First Responders.
Fundraising for a defibrillator
If a you aren’t eligible for a grant from a charity, why not consider personal crowdfunding? As well as the usual buckets and sponsorship forms, fundraising online could also be an option.
Be persuasive in your fundraiser, remember that if a sudden cardiac arrest happens – and it can happen to anyone – if CPR is performed and a defibrillator provided within 3-5 minutes survival chances can increase from 6% to 74%.
Following on from the shock of Christian Eriksen collapsing on pitch during a Euros match, Clontarf FC decided to fundraise for a defibrillator to keep their players and fans safe. Two of their players even agreed to have their chest hair waxed to encourage donations – ouch. They ended up raising more than €2,000.
Get help today
If you’d like to organise to cover the cost of a defibrillator for your school, work, community, local shopping centre, or any other reason consider GoFundMe.
Our team of expert customer support agents are on hand to offer 24/7 advice, and there are a wealth of fundraising tips at your disposal.