Club general manager Noel Dona said that as if that wasn’t a lesson enough for other clubs, the following year the same Over 35s team were playing in Dundas and one of the other side’s players also had a fatal heart attack on the field.
His club is one of many now planning to take advantage of the State Government’s funding offer to access life-saving defibrillators.
“Our club is expanding at the rate of knots, so we definitely need another and will be putting in an EOI this week,” he said.
Described as a safety net that every sporting club should have, defibrillators give heart attack victims a 90 per cent survival rate compared with a 10 to 20 per cent survival rate with CPR.
Community sport clubs and organisations have until this Friday, February 10, to submit an expression of interest for funding under the NSW Government’s Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program, with $3,000 available per device and organisations able to apply for up to three devices valued at $9,000.
Parramatta Basketball Association General Manager Dawn Burke said they wouldn’t be without their one but it was getting a bit old so they would definitely be applying for another.
Auburn District Cricket Executive Officer Mike Wood will also be submitting an EOI for more.
“We’ve got three grounds so it wouldn’t hurt to have another defibrillator,” he said
“You can’t have too many.”
Details: sport.nsw.gov.au.
Clubs told apply for ‘lifesaver’
AFTER one of their Over 35s players died from a heart attack on the field about 12 years ago, Granville Waratahs SFC were one of the first clubs to acquire a defibrillator.