Since our formation in 1998 our aim has been to teach valuable lifesaving skills such as the recovery position, CPR and dealing with severe bleeding and choking. We have also supplemented them with our bespoke CPR & Defibrillator classes when installing defibrillators at businesses.
In 2013 TSAR extended our CPR programme to Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) with a mission to raise funds for and place public access defibrillators in every village and at key tourist sites in our area. This programme has received critical acclaim and we are proud to now have over 150 PADS in place!
To date (as of April 2020) 26 lives have been saved by members of the public using CPR and the Public Acess Defibs we have installed.
In October 2015 we organised the first Scottish Community Resuscitation Conference at the School of Medicine, University of St Andrews – a not-for-profit event designed to promote community CPR training and the use of public access defibrillators. Supported by the Scottish Ambulance Service and Scottish Government, it was a huge success.
In April 2016 we launched our Defib Locator App which provides information on the location of public access defibs in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park and surrounding communities. People can download the link to the app onto their phone FREE OF CHARGE. This potentially lifesaving app has been necessary as the Scottish Ambulance Service does not have a mapping system for defibs. In the week that it has been launched it was distributed by Scottish Government Resilience, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Scotland & UK, NHS Highland and other large organisations involved in tourism.
It can be downloaded at https://www.trossachsdefibrillator.co.uk/
In June 2016, at the Scottish Cardiac Arrest Symposium, the charity was awarded Runner Up in the inaugural national Newton Award 2016 which celebrates commitment to tackling Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Scotland.
We typically deliver over 60 classes a year training over 2,000 people in schools, local businesses and public and community classes.