Motocaddy gets behind new 'Drive for Defibs' campaign

Motocaddy, the world’s biggest-selling electric golf trolley company, has partnered with top-selling magazine Today’s Golfer to run a campaign looking to provide golfers with access to a life-saving defibrillator (AED) at every golf club in the UK.

The nationwide Drive for Defibs campaign begins this week with the support of the British Heart Foundation charity and AED provider HeartSafe. The objective is to have at least one defibrillator at each of the country’s 2,270 golf clubs registered with The Circuit, a new national database that connects defibrillators to NHS ambulance services in case of emergencies.

Currently, only a third of UK golf clubs have a registered defibrillator on site. The locations of AED units at more than 700 clubs are integrated into the free Motocaddy GPS app and also accessible through the handle of the brand’s GPS electric trolleys, with playing partners also given crucial CPR steps to follow on the screen at the same time.

With time being of the essence in the event of a heart attack or cardiac arrest, knowledge of the location of a defibrillator becomes vital and the free mobile Motocaddy app can pinpoint defibrillator locations immediately.

The First Aid function was added to the Motocaddy GPS app in 2017 and over the past five years there have been more than 120,000 downloads in the UK. The feature was subsequently integrated into the brand’s smart technology touchscreen GPS trolleys.

“We’re delighted to team up with Today’s Golfer to deliver such an important message that has the potential to save the lives of golfers across the country and make a real difference to the golfing community,” said Motocaddy CEO, John Helas. “We aim to add more clubs to our database and support our growing number of users,” he added.

The campaign will appear in future issues of Today’s Golfer magazine reaching more than 38,000 subscribers, supported by online and social media storylines of those personally affected by cardiac arrest tragedies on the golf course. Golf celebrities backing the campaign include Sky Sports presenter Nick Dougherty, Andy Proudman and Piers Ward from Me and My Golf and Dame Laura Davies, plus Soccer AM personality Tubes - AKA Peter Dale - a keen golfer who suffered a heart attack in 2018.

“I was 36 years old when I suffered a very unexpected and major heart attack and if it wasn’t for the quick and effective efforts of our emergency services, I wouldn’t be here today,” said Tubes.

“I was one of the lucky ones because I could have easily become another statistic. One in four deaths in the UK are caused by heart and circulatory diseases, which is why the Drive for Defibs campaign is incredibly important. I thank Today’s Golfer and Motocaddy for starting this campaign, which I hope can save lives and make golf clubs a much safer place to be,” he added.

“Together with Motocaddy, we will provide clubs and golfers with the tools and support to help build an army of lifesavers on the golf course and we won’t stop until every golf club in the UK has installed and registered at least one defibrillator with The Circuit,” said Today’s Golfer Editor, Chris Jones.

“In researching for the campaign and speaking to people personally affected and to the experts at the British Heart Foundation and HeartSafe, the numbers are scary - like 38% of UK adults have never undertaken any form of CPR training and over 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests occur in the UK each year, with a survival rate of less than one in 10. These are horrible facts and it's so important that people, not just golfers, understand the importance of CPR and how to use an AED should it come to it. If we can save just one life, then this will all be worth it and in the long run, we can hopefully save many more,” he added.

In addition to the Today’s Golfer print and online features, CPR training will also be offered through the campaign with golf club members given potentially life-saving steps from experts at HeartSafe, a British Company with 12 years expertise providing AED solutions for communities, businesses, schools and sports clubs throughout the UK. Motocaddy will also be contacting its existing golf club database to ensure that the campaign message spreads as far as possible.

A simple six-step guide on ‘How to Perform CPR’ is easily accessible within the main menu of the free Motocaddy GPS mobile app and on all GPS touchscreen trolleys like the M5 GPS model via a red heart logo on the ‘Play Golf’ screen. Selecting the logo brings up the location of the nearest on-course AED and reminds playing partners to contact the emergency services. The GPS app is free to download on iOS and Android devices from the Apple App Store and on Google Play, while the Motocaddy trolley range is widely-available from local stockists.