The very first ‘European Restart a Heart Day’ to teach members of the public how to help restart the heart of someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest will be held this autumn, organised by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC).
The initiative, which takes place on October 16th, targeting particularly Europe’s younger people, aims to improve the very low numbers of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
On the day, West Midlands Ambulance Service will join medical supply firm SP Services at the company’s HQ in Telford to give members of the public a free course in Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR); procedures which everyone can learn and which, one day, may save someone’s life.
Malcolm Price, West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Commercial Services Development Manager said: “Bystander CPR is incredibly important because having people on hand who know what to do is crucial. These skills really do save lives. The earlier someone suffering a cardiac arrest gets help the greater their chance of survival. We teach people very simple, basic procedures – they are simple, effective – and they work.”
The European Resuscitation Council believes with more people learning the techniques, 100,000 lives could be saved each year across Europe.
Professor Maaret Castrén of the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and chairwoman of the ERC said: “CPR is easier than most people think and saves lives. People are understandably nervous about doing CPR but our campaign will show that it is a straightforward procedure that can be performed by most people. Members of the general public really have the power and ability to save lives in these circumstances. Even a modest increase in the proportion of the public doing CPR in this scenario could save many lives.”
Paul Watts, SP Services’ Sales Manager and former instructor with London Ambulance Service said: “There can be nothing worse than standing around unable to help when someone collapses in front of you. Taking the time to learn a few basic steps may one day save the life of a family member or a stranger in the street.”
“You don’t have to book. If you live or work nearby or are passing our head office on Wednesday, October 16, just call in to our first aid showroom which is open to the public. You will be made very welcome and the course will only take a maximum of one hour. You can’t miss us on Hortonwood 30 as there is a tank parked outside.”
By performing CPR you can do nothing wrong, the only thing that can be wrong is doing nothing.
