Thanks to the Sam Polledri Foundation, Gloucester Brewery, and Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC), residents of Gloucester will soon have their best chance on their worst day.
A public access defibrillator is being installed on the Warehouse 4 building on West Quay and will be ready for use if someone nearby goes into cardiac arrest.
On Tuesday 9th April the new defibrillator will be unveiled by Louise Polledri, mum of 24-year-old Sam Polledri who sadly passed away from a cardiac arrest in February 2022.
This will be followed by an open-access free session available from 12.00 to 15.00 where volunteers from Great Western Air Ambulance Charity will be training in CPR and the use of a defibrillator.
Please take 15 minutes out of your day to drop in and learn how to save a life.
Gloucester Brewery also recently launched “Cheeky Chopper”, a non-alcoholic IPA that not only tantalises your taste buds but also supports GWAAC by donating 10% of every sale.
Geoff Smith, Managing Director of Gloucester Brewery said:
We’re thrilled to be a part of providing this new defibrillator for Gloucester. The Sam Polledri Foundation’s work in funding public access defibrillators became profoundly personal in 2023 when I had to use one during a youth sports event I was coaching to help prevent a fatality. We’re really looking forward to getting the community involved in the training so local people are upskilled and confident to use it!
Early CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and defibrillation can raise survival rates from less than 1 in 10 to more than 7 in 10 – making defibrillators vital community assets.
GWAAC’s Critical Care Doctors, Advanced Clinical Practitioners, and Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care provide emergency pre-hospital care to around 2000 people a year; people who are in a condition so grave that they need specialist skills and equipment at the scene.
They treat over 500 cardiac arrest patients a year, yet despite the extraordinary skills, equipment and speed the crew brings to the scene, they are the first to say that patient survival is highly dependent on other key steps prior to their arrival.
About the Sam Polledri Foundation
The Sam Polledri Foundation has raised a staggering £72,000 for public access defibrillators in just over one year.
The Sam Polledri Foundation was set up amidst the devastation of losing their beloved Sam – a fit and healthy 24-year-old man who suffered a cardiac arrest in Bristol’s Millennium Square on 26 February 2022 on a night out with friends.
Sadly, there were no publicly accessible defibrillators near Sam. GWAAC’s crew attended Sam that night and did everything they could, but Sam didn’t survive.
The Sam Polledri Foundation, working in partnership with GWAAC, raises funds to install public access defibrillators in local communities, as well as teach people to use them along with CPR. The first defibrillator was installed in Millennium Square in July 2022, near where Sam fell.
Early CPR and defibrillation are vital links in the chain of survival; doing both can dramatically increase survival rates. This is why it is so important that the community rallies together to get more defibrillators. They need to be publicly accessible, close by and used.
GWAAC’s public access defibrillator campaign will mean more people survive, like, Forrest Wheeler who collapsed in Pittville Park, Cheltenham. Thanks to early CPR, early defibrillation, and GWAAC’s Critical Care Team who put Forrest in an induced coma, he is still here and has these pearls of wisdom to share:
“If anyone takes anything away from my story, it’s that if you have any hesitations about using a defibrillator – don’t. My message is, just use it. The machine tells you what to do, it’s so easy and it’s better to give it a go than not try at all.”
If you would like to fundraise for or purchase a defibrillator for your community, please get in touch with the GWAAC team by emailing , visiting gwaac.com/aed or calling Lisa, Defibrillator Coordinator on 07596 566175.
To find out more about the CPR training day please contact or call 07754 554508.
