Special orange bins are going to be placed throughout Balbriggan to encourage locals to donate their bottles and cans rather than money to fund the defibrillators.
Local man Aidan Whelan wants the defibrillators placed in residential areas as 70pc of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home.
Aidan is now hoping to create a chain of defibrillators in Balbriggan that extends beyond main streets and into housing estates.
He said the recommended time to react to a cardiac arrest with a defibrillator is instantly. For every second and minute there-after, the rate of survival decreases exponentially.
This means the lifesaving protocol of identifying the signs of a cardiac arrest, applying CPR, and having an AED/defibrillator response is an immediate requirement.
His goal is to have a defibrillator every 420 metres. To do this, he hopes to use the cash from the bottle return scheme and encourage locals to donate their bottles, rather than money.
“It’s a Balbriggan chain of survival, we want to reduce avoidable fatalities in the community,” Mr Whelan said.
“There was always this thing about CPR, how many people are trained to respond to a particular incident.
“We thought, if we could deploy these orange bins in the community and get the engagement, we’re going to help reduce avoidable fatalities in the community. It’s a huge community effort.”
Each AED and outdoor cabinet will cost €1,750, while installation, battery and pad maintenance will incur additional costs.
The overall goal is for Balbriggan to be the first town in Ireland with an AED / Defibrillator coverage of 95pc for the town’s population.
“We’ve a list of where these bins need to go, organising when they’ll be taken away and recycled. We’ll need to amplify it so everyone can come along and support it. We’re going to use them to put AEDs in certain areas,” Mr Whelan said.
“In the incidence of cardiac arrest and someone who isn’t breathing, the time is critical when you respond to that, you need to do it within seconds. There’s a volume of people suffering from these particular incidents.”
