It takes a community to save a life.
Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Addressing Health Inequalities and Saving Lives
Please join us for an online public talk on 4 March at 7 pm on Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Addressing Health Inequalities and Saving Lives.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a critical, life-threatening emergency where the heart stops beating. Immediate intervention with CPR and, when needed, defibrillation is essential. Each minute without these lifesaving measures decreases a person’s chance of survival by up to 10%. In the UK, OHCA impacts approximately 80,000 individuals annually. Despite advancements in resuscitation science and an increase in bystander CPR, survival rates remain alarmingly low, with fewer than one in ten people (9.5%) surviving an OHCA.
The UK NHS Ambulance Services play a vital role in tackling health inequalities linked to OHCA. Liam Sagi, National Strategic Lead for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), discusses how socio-economic deprivation, ethnicity, and cultural background can influence a person’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest. These disparities in health outcomes are avoidable, unfair, and rooted in systemic inequalities. Health inequalities are evident in the prevalence, treatment, and outcomes of cardiac arrests. Liam will also explore the broader initiatives led by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) to enhance the national response to OHCA.
Duncan Robertson, Chief Paramedic, SCAS, will share the work of SCAS in addressing these disparities. They will highlight efforts to strengthen the “chain of survival” through promoting basic lifesaving skills and fostering defibrillator awareness and guardianship.
Join us for an insightful and interesting talk on OHCA that will includes a 10-minute interactive CPR demonstration. Learn how to save a life, no matter where you live.
Please contact membership@scas.nhs.uk to register.
Duncan Robertson, Chief Paramedic, SCAS
Duncan’s career started in 1998 as an Ambulance Technician in Manchester, and he qualified as a Paramedic In 2001. He has undertaken multiple clinical roles across ambulance services in both England and Wales which have included Training, Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMs), Advanced Paramedic, Consultant Paramedic and regional clinical lead. Duncan is a proud paramedic and maintains clinical skills through operational shifts and providing on-call senior clinical advice. In X he became Assistant Director at the Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST), where he led on the implementation of a national programme through the introduction of WAST’s first electronic Patient Clinical Record (ePCR). He is involved in research and is currently co-editing a book covering the emergency and urgent care of the older person. He joined SCAS as Chief Paramedic in 2024.
Liam Sagi – National Strategic Lead for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest |Advanced Paramedic | Critical Care
Liam is an Advanced Paramedic in Critical Care where he works in East of England Ambulance Service and East Anglian Air Ambulance as well as volunteering his time with the BASICs charity Suffolk Accident Rescue Service. Liam started his career in the London Ambulance Service in 2011 before moving to the East of England. Liam has worked in a variety of roles including the Hazardous Area Response Team. He joined the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) in 2023 as part of a joint project on Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest and health inequalities with NHS Charities Together and now leads on this area of work for AACE across the sector. He is passionate about improving survival from cardiac arrest in the UK and reducing the associated inequalities. Liam also has an interest in the management of Prehospital Traumatic Brain Injury.