The award-winning garden centre, based in Inverness, recently purchased the lifesaving device which was donated to raise funds for the Highland Hospice, with the defibrillator being handed over to the Simpsons team at the beginning of December.
The device was donated by Invergordon based company LIFEAid, who’s founder Adrian Dryburgh was supported by the Hospice earlier this year.
Eight out of 10 cardiac arrests happen in public places and with hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the Highlands and further afield every year, the team at Simpsons hope by having a defibrillator available on site, this will in some way help save a life if it’s ever called into use.
Siobhan MacBean, Marketing Manager at Simpsons Garden Centre said: “Having a defibrillator installed in the garden centre is something that we’ve been thinking about for a while. The figures surrounding cardiac arrest survival rates speak volumes and the fact by having a defibrillator close by means survival rates increase from 5% to 75%.
“Being able to support the Highland Hospice in securing a defibrillator for the store is a huge positive and we’d like to thank everyone at LIFEAid for their fantastic donation and their help in getting it installed for us.
“Of course, we hope we never have to use the device, but having it on site gives our team and our customers great peace of mind knowing that we have this life saving defibrillator available”.
Kevin Dryburgh Director at LifeAid said: “My brother Adrian was passionate about protecting lives against cardiac arrest and the more organisations who invest in this vital equipment the more lives will be saved.
“Many thanks to Simpsons for supporting The Highland Hospice by buying the defibrillator we donated. The Hospice is our chosen charity after they cared for Adrian so lovingly during his final days.