Binmen pick up life-saving skills

Refuse collectors as well as office staff have been trained

Along with bags of rubbish, binmen at one of Cardiff's busiest landfill sites have picked up how to save a life.

Staff at the Lamby Way depot, which has more than 400 people visiting daily to dump rubbish, have learned how to use equipment to restart a heart.

Binmen and office staff at the site have been trained how to use a defibrillator on anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest on site.

So far 20 of the 200 people based at the depot have been trained.

Alan McCoy, a performance manager at the site, one of those trained to use the equipment, said: "There are a group of us who have trained from the office and the manual workforce.

"It all came about because one of the staff members is a first responder and trained to use the equipment and he suggested it to our managers.

"They thought it was a good idea and we had the training.

"God forbid, we haven't had to use the training yet but there are a number of us now who can do so.

"And if a member of the public came and took ill we could react quickly," he said.

More than 400 people visit the tip every day

The equipment, which costs £1,500, checks itself daily and even talks the user through the process when it is being used.

It works by shocking the body, to allow the heart to restart itself naturally and records the shocks given to the patient which can be passed onto medical staff.

The staff have been trained by Tony Rossetti, the first responder officer for the Welsh Ambulance Service.

"The key to the operation is early access, early CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), early defibrillation and early advance care," he said.

"The machine is very easy to use and gives the operative voice prompts to tell them what to do. The kit includes all of the equipment needed when dealing with a cardiac arrest."

Elgan Morgan, Cardiff Council's executive member for environment and transport, said: "I hope an incident like this does not occur to any staff or visitors, but if it does we have the equipment and training to help."