Brighton and Hove Albion may have lost to Newcastle this week, but some great news has emerged in the midst of the defeat – the team’s home stadium in Falmer has a 100 per cent track record for emergency medical care.
The stadium’s team of paramedics from South East Coast Ambulance (SECamb), volunteers at St John Ambulance, and Albion staff has been praised as ‘outstanding’. They had their achievements in keeping Albion’s home games safe honoured at the South East Coast Ambulance Service’s force awards last week.
The team has managed to successfully resuscitate four people suffering from cardiac arrests since 2011, a feat doubtlessly helped by the eight defibrillators donated to the club by the Sussex Heart Charity. Based on a national survival rate of less than five per cent, the odds of all four men surviving was just one in 160,000.
Tim Fellows, the operational unit manager for Brighton, believes themedical support provided at the Amex is first-rate. He said: “They truly are a team, led by Adrian Dry who was instrumental in setting up the medical structure which they have in place at the stadium. What they do there is really special. They work well together supporting and complementing their areas of expertise.”
“I am often quoted as saying that it may be a championship football club but it has premiership medical support,” he added, “I am so proud of the team and what they have achieved and I am delighted that they are receiving this award.”
Geraint Davies, acting chief executive of SECamb said: “These awards show the amazing work which is going on day in day out at SECAmb. It was an honour to present the commendations and the long service awards are always very humbling. I am immensely proud of the dedication, clinical skill and patient care shown by all our staff and volunteers. It is a particular delight that this year we are acknowledging the great work that has been achieved at the Amex Stadium in Brighton. The medical team there have delivered some truly wonderful results.”
