National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company responsible for rolling out the Irish Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP), has teamed up with its charity partner The RISE Global Foundation to donate a new defibrillator to Clonmany Community First Responders in County Donegal.
As a newly formed group of local volunteers, Clonmany First Responders aim to train ordinary members of the community to respond to medical emergencies in the local area. Providing a vital community service, the first responders are often on scene before ambulance crews, administrating first aid and potentially saving lives.
Joe Joyce, a volunteer for Clonmany Community First Responders, said: “As a rural community, our voluntary group provides a vital service which addresses a local need and service. In some situations, ambulances can be asked to travel long distances, taking over an hour to reach the patient in need of urgent care. Recognising the challenges the healthcare providers are facing, our local community has taken the initiative to set up this group and do everything we can to help.
“We are absolutely thrilled to receive funding from NBI and RISE for this new defibrillator, which will literally save lives.”
The RISE Global Foundation is a private foundation established by NBI founder, David McCourt, and seeks to empower rural communities with better access to technology. In the past three years, RISE has provided over 130 cash grants to charities, social enterprises, small businesses, farms and schools across rural Ireland.
Having attended Clonmany Community First Responders’ base during a recent trip to Donegal, McCourt added: “The volunteers at Clonmany Community First Responders epitomise the community spirit that is the fabric of rural Ireland. As a team of 31 volunteers, these men and women have witnessed a problem in their community and come together to solve it. They have each selflessly given up their time and energy to ensure responders are well trained and well equipped, and it’s our absolute honour at RISE and NBI to support the group by donating this new life-saving equipment.”
Clonmany Community First Responders is a newly established group that started operating in September. Certified by the National Ambulance Service, the group will receive alerts for call outs for cardiac arrest, chest pain, stroke and choking incidents.
NBI is reminding Donegal residents to also visit their website at nbi.ie to check whether their home, farm or business is included in the National Broadband Plan and to sign up for Eircode specific updates on the rollout.
Peter Hendrick, CEO of NBI, added: “In our delivery of the National Broadband Plan, NBI will make high-speed broadband available to 34,000 homes, farms and businesses in Donegal over the course of our rollout. Over 14,000 premises across Donegal are already available to place an order via their preferred broadband provider and nationwide people are relishing having access to reliable broadband that won’t let you down.”
Photo caption: David McCourt, Chairman of NBI and founder of the RISE Global Foundation, and Tara Collins, Chief Marketing Officer, NBI, with the Clonmany Community First Responders
