Critical care patients in the Conquest Hospital, Hastings, have access to new tablet computers to help keep them occupied during their recovery thanks to the generosity of town cable management manufacturer Marshall-Tufflex.
The donation of the five Hudl tablets was championed by company group personnel manager Steve Baldry, who was recently cared for in the hospital’s High Dependency Unit following a sudden cardiac arrest. While there he used an old tablet computer to catch up on news, contact friends and watch movies. However, it was not ideal so he wanted future patients to have a better experience and show his thanks to the unit for saving his life.
Pauline Simes, lead nurse critical care, comments: “These new tablets will provide entertainment and a distraction for patients. Ventilated patients who are unable to talk will be able to communicate with staff by touching a picture or spelling out a word via the touch screen. We are extremely grateful to Steve and Marshall-Tufflex for this marvellous donation and it was wonderful to see Steve looking so well. Thank you.”
Steve is also encouraging everyone to learn CPR, which can more than double the chance of survival for cardiac arrest victims. He says: “There are approximately 60,000 cardiac arrests each year in the UK and only 10% of people survive. Response to a sudden cardiac arrest is a top priority for emergency services and they do all they can to get there as fast as possible. Unfortunately they often arrive to find people standing round, not knowing what to do. My message to everyone is to know how to recognise a cardiac arrest and how to deliver CPR. You may also want to lobby your local sports facilities, work place etc to install an AED (automated external defibrillator); CPR with early defibrillation can triple the chance of survival.
“Early recognition, calling 999 and early bystander CPR with early defibrillation will make a huge difference. I was lucky enough to receive these things and am still here to tell the tale,” added Steve.
Marshall-Tufflex has long been a supporter of the Conquest Hospital, donating equipment worth many thousands of pounds from its charitable trust, which has given some £750,000 to good causes locally and nationally over the last 10 years.
