Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Registered Nurses Chris Hammond and Rod Purkiss, Pink Silks Trust committee members Richard Hinton, Nic Knight, Tanya Johnson and Christine McGregor and (front) ICU Registered Nurse Kareela Robbrown and Pink Silks Trust representative Alison Blanshard holding two of the portable AEDs.
Pink Silks Trust donates vital AEDs to hospital
Oct 10, 2023High Tea by the Sea, a Pink Silks Trust event at Latitude 30 earlier this year, is being hailed a life-saver after raising enough funds to buy five portable Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for Coffs Harbour Health Campus.
The annual ‘charity do’ for fine food connoisseurs raises vital funds for Coffs Harbour’s Pink Silks Trust which then distributes donations to health organisations that support women.
The Pink Silks Trust Committee settled on five medical-grade AEDs, costing $16,000, due to the recent increase in the size of the hospital’s footprint.
“The medical staff really wanted greater access to portable AEDs to help anyone having a heart attack,” said Pink Silks Trust Committee Chair and Co-founder Tanya Johnson OAM.
“With more than 500 inpatients, their visitors as well as staff, on site at any one time, it is possible someone, somewhere on site will have a heart attack.
“These AEDs make it very easy for anyone to start basic life support before medical emergency responders from the Intensive Care Unit arrive.”
In Australia, a person is hospitalised with a heart attack every nine minutes, and heart disease is the number one killer of women, claiming three-times the lives lost to breast cancer.
As the Pink Silks Race Day in January draws nearer, Ms Johnson said the charity’s latest purchase was a timely reminder that donations, such as the AEDs, cannot happen without community support.
In the past 16 years, the Pink Silks Trust has raised more than $1.2 million – much of it going towards women’s health needs at Coffs Harbour Health Campus and local support groups.
Equipment has been donated to the hospital’s operating theatres, gynecological department, ED, Maternity, Intensive Care, Palliative Care, Stroke and Rehabilitation Unit and the Sexual Assault Unit. The Mid North Coast Local Health District’s Brain Injury and Rehabilitation Unit has also been a beneficiary, along with the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute at CHHC.
The next two fundraising events are Pink Silks Trust Golf Day on Friday 12 January 2024 and Pink Silks Trust Ladies Charity Race Day on Sunday 14 January 2024.
To be involved with Pink Silks and the work it does locally, check the Trust’s website for contact details or through their socials.
To be a beneficiary for funds and increase the awareness of specific work with women in the local area, contact PST through the website or social media.
Pink Silks Trust is a local registered community charity making a significant difference for local women’s health journeys.