First Responders are left ‘heartbroken’ by defibrillator vandalism

A COMMUNITY First Responders Group has been left “heartbroken” by the vandalism of one of their public access defibrillators at St Kevin’s Church in Kilnamanagh.

The life-saving device was removed from its unlocked case at approximately 7.20pm on Wednesday, November 1, and smashed on the ground.

It has dealt a crushing blow for the Kilnamanagh Community First Responders, who’ve been active in the area for more than six years and have placed unlocked defibrillators around the area.

In a Facebook post, a member of the group wrote: “We’re absolutely heartbroken. After six years with public access defibrillators unlocked available to the community 24 hours, seven days a week, the defibrillator at the church was taken out of its box and smashed tonight.

“Just so absolutely pointless. €1,200 of our community’s hard-earned money wasted by guys who’ll never contribute anything to their community till the day they die.

“We won’t be deterred, but it’s a major setback.

“If anyone has any contacts in businesses, etc, with a connection to Kilnamanagh maybe they could let them know that any donations would be gratefully received.

“We won’t rest until we replace this unit, as there are now at least 1,000 people in Kilnamanagh living near the church with no access to a defibrillator.”

The group prided itself on having publicly-accessible defibrillators without codes or locks to provide ease of access in case of an emergency, and they had never been vandalised until last week.

The group said gardaí had been notified of the incident, and they are appealing to people who may have CCTV or dashcam footage of the area at the time of the incident.

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