Media Information

Happy New Year: Speed Medical Has Community At Heart

15 January 2013:Leyland'sWellfieldBusiness & Enterprise Collegewill be equipped with a life-saving heart defibrillator on the 16^thof January, courtesy of a belated Christmas present from Chorley-based Speed Medical, the UK's largest independent provider of medical reports and rehabilitation services in the UK.

Having teamed up earlier in 2013 with Lancashire heart failure charity ‘The Pumping Marvellous Foundation' and the North West Ambulance Service, to raise vital funds for the creation of a network of easily accessible emergency equipment, to be housed in public buildings across the region, Speed Medical has made another significant contribution to the cause, buying and donating its second heart defibrillator.

Staff, pupils and residents near toWellfieldBusiness & Enterprise Collegehave a series of themed events at Speed's headquarters to thank for the donation. As well as the typical bake sales, quizzes, sponsored events and an innovative raffle to win extra holiday time off work, Speed's employees have taken part in X-factor style talent competitions and dressed as ghouls, zombies and vampires, to take part in witch hunts - not the kind that end with trials, but the kind where winners are rewarded with luxury hampers. The funds raised in the latter part of 2013 were enough to buy the second life-saving defibrillator.

The first defibrillator was bought and donated to St Andrew's school in Leyland during the earlier part of 2013.

The machines, hopefully part of a much larger network in future, have been mapped by the North West Ambulance Service so that operators are able to direct individuals who have dialed 999, as well as the emergency services, to the nearest defibrillator.

It's estimated that 12 to 16 young people die every week due to cardiac arrests - that's more than 800 deaths a year. It can happen to anyone - whatever their age or however fit they seem. Some 60,000 people each year have a cardiac arrest outside hospital.

Only half are treated by medical services and only 2% to 12% survive. Access to defibrillators and the promotion of emergency life support could vastly improve these figures.

Speed Medical's managing director, Graham Pulford, emphasised his determination to help prevent needless deaths from cardiac arrests in Lancashire."When we chose The Pumping Marvellous Foundation as our charity of the year for 2013, I had no idea how many people of all ages and fitness levels can be subject to cardiac arrest. The statistics for young people in particular are shocking. The Pumping Marvellous Foundation and NWAS do some fantastic work here in Lancashire and their cause - helping to save people's lives right in the heart of our local community - is one we're all incredibly proud to support."

The Pumping Marvellous Foundation was set up by Lancashire businessman Nick Hartshorne-Evans who was himself diagnosed with heart failure aged 39 after he contracted a virus. The charity delivers support to sufferers of heart failure, their carers and families to self-manage their condition. The charity also works with NHS bodies as a patient and public representative across the UK.

Hartshorne-Evans said:"Companies like Speed Medical demonstrate a strong sense of corporate social responsibility by working progressively within their local communities with charities like ours. By actively getting involved in raising funds to buy defibrillators, the management and staff at Speed are recognising the importance of our goal to place as many of these machines as possible around the North West. The more defibrillators we buy with the money we raise and the generous donations we receive, the more lives we'll save. Fact. Fast access to a defibrillator makes the difference between a typical survival rate of 5% and a much healthier 50%."

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For more information, interview requests or digital photography, please contact:

Neil Bent on T: 01457 869 477 M: 07957 143 450 E: neil@ablecommunications.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

To find out more about the heart defibrillator campaign visit:http://pumpingmarvellous.org/2013/01/25/fund-a-defibrillator-aed/and follow the latest campaign news on twitter @pumpinghearts

_{Established in 1998 and based in Chorley, Speed Medical employs around 150 people, turns over approximately £40M, and works with over 4,000 medical experts throughout the UK.}

_{Already the UK's largest independent provider of medical reports, rehabilitation and ancillary services used in the resolution of personal injury claims throughout the UK, the business acquired industrial disease specialists Medical Legal Appointments in 2013, adding a further 40 or so employees and around £5M to its revenues. Speed provides solicitors and insurers with an unrivalled level of product tailoring and industry leading standards of service. It is headquartered on Matrix Park,}Chorley, PR7 7NA.http://www.speedmedical.com