West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) is urging everyone to learn the lifesaving skill of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to mark ‘Restart A Heart’ day which takes place today (Monday 16th October).
Now in it’s tenth year, Restart A Heart Day is aimed at teaching as many people as possible how to do CPR, an essential skill that can be the difference between life and death when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.
In the UK, only around one in seven people survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), much lower than other parts of world.
Half of OHCA are witnessed and by having early bystander CPR it is shown to more than double the chances of survival.
WMAS is today launching a week-long campaign to promote the importance of learning CPR and has produced a new video explaining how to do it, which you can view and download here.
Cliff Medlicott, WMAS Community Response Manager, said: “Lots of people imagine you have to be a paramedic or a medical professional to save a life, but the truth is that everybody has the potential to be a lifesaver.
“There is no doubt that coming across a cardiac arrest is scary. It’s different to a heart attack. In a cardiac arrest, the patient will be unconscious and their heart won’t be beating – they are clinically dead – unless someone is prepared to do something.
“Performing CPR buys the patient time until the ambulance service gets there. It’s really important to realise that you cannot hurt the person, doing something can only help.”
WMAS would love to see as many members of the public as possible having a go at learning CPR, and has produced a certificate to congratulate them for giving it a try, which can be downloaded and printed out here.
