For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) will be going into over 50 schools on World Restart a Heart Day, Wednesday 16 October, to train the next generation of lifesavers.
Survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests remain stubbornly low in the UK, with fewer than one in 10 people surviving.
Each World Restart a Heart Day, SCAS joins with other ambulance services, universities, charities, public sector organisations and first aid trainers from across the globe to raise public awareness of cardiac arrests and increase the number of people trained in lifesaving CPR and defibrillation.
David Hamer, paramedic and operations manager at SCAS, said:
“I am delighted that we are able to go back into over 50 schools this year and would like to thank all the headteachers and senior leadership teams who are supporting World Restart a Heart Day in helping us train the next generation of lifesavers.”
“Training over 10,000 students in CPR and defibrillation in one day is no mean feat and wouldn’t be possible without the amazing efforts of the more than 100 SCAS Charity volunteers who are helping us in schools across the South Central region.”
Skills in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and the use of a defibrillator are skills for life and can educate and empower young people to help save a life should they be near someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest.
As well as training over 10,000 students in lifesaving CPR and defibrillation, World Restart a Heart Day is also being marked by the SCAS Charity, which has organised a 24-hour CPR-A-THON challenge where teams of 6-8 people will be tasked with undertaking good quality CPR for 24 hours using a CPR manikin.
The challenge is taking place at 100 Brook Drive, Green Park, Reading from 10am on Thursday, 17 October, until 10am on Friday 18 October. Four teams from Tanium in Green Park have already signed up for the challenge and the charity hopes the event will raise over £6,000. If anyone would like to enter a team, there is still time. All the information is available at CPR-a-THON – South Central Ambulance Charity (scascharity.org.uk).
Reading-resident, Tania Cheale, whose husband Richard suffered a cardiac arrest in April 2023, is setting off from Bristol on World Restart a Heart Day, to walk 96-miles following the Kennet & Avon canal to Reading. Richard will be joining her for around two hours each day, and the couple are hoping to raise £12,000 for the SCAS Charity to buy a LUCAS 3 (chest compression system) device.
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Notes to editors
- A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating; a person is immediately unconscious and will die within minutes if not treated quickly.
- A heart attack occurs when an artery supplying the heart with blood becomes blocked, the person will still be conscious. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest, but this is not inevitable.
- There are more than 100,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year. Bystander CPR can double the chance of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
- For every minute without CPR and defibrillation, the chances of survival reduce by 10%.
- Surveys show that only 4 in 10 people in the UK are confident enough to perform CPR when witnessing a cardiac arrest
Sources: Resuscitation Council UK, British Heart Foundation