THE life-saving defibrillator snatched from a landmark AED point in an old telephone kiosk on Main Street, Killarney has been returned in mysterious circumstances.
As revealed by KillarneyToday.com at weekend, the AED went missing in the early hours of Sunday morning and the shock discovery was made by Heart of Killarney project volunteers who immediately alerted Gardai.
“It’s not known if it was taken for a genuine reason or if it was somebody messing around,” Heart of Killarney leader, Damien Baker, said on Sunday.
It has now emerged that the €1,500 defibrillator – which had not been used – was returned to the kiosk, probably in the early hours of this morning and volunteers were delighted to see it back.
Up until last Christmas entry to the kiosk – the first of its kind int h country – could only be gained by breaking an emergency glass panel to access the key but the glass had been smashed by vandals on so many occasions the Heart of Killarney team felt the best course of action was to leave the door unlocked.
“We know there was a risk involved but, given the situation, we felt the benefits outweighed the risks, particularly if it helped save a life,” Damien said this Tuesday.
He thanked the person who returned the defibrillator for doing the right thing and added that if it’s not in the kiosk when it’s needed, a life could be lost.
Damien also thanked Gardaí in Killarney for their support and the time and resources they devoted to the investigation and he said the whole community had been so supportive after reading about the saga on KillarneyTdoay.com.
Steps are now being taken to have the kiosk monitored by security cameras on a 24-hours basis and a new coded keycard – from which fingerprints can be taken – will have to be used to get access to the kiosk.
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