South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is taking part in European Restart a Heart Day on 18 October.
Along with the British Heart Foundation, the British Red Cross, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and ambulance trusts across the country, SCAS is taking part in a world record attempt to get 100,000 school children performing CPR at the same time on Restart a Heart Day. SCAS staff are providing CPR training sessions at a number of schools across the South
Central region including:
Bohunt School, Liphook, Hampshire
Brookfield Community School, Southampton
Alton Convent, Alton, Hampshire
Hayling College, Hayling Island
Harrow Way Community School, Andover, Hampshire
Petersfield School, Hampshire
Restart a Heart Day is designed to encourage more people learn how to do life-saving CPR (or chest compressions) should they come across someone collapsed, not breathing and potentially in cardiac arrest.
For every minute that passes without CPR starting on a person in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival reduce by 10%.
Professor Charles Deakin, Consultant in Cardiac Anaesthesia and Intensive Care and Assistant Medical Director for SCAS said:
“One of the big worries of people giving first aid and chest compressions to someone who has collapsed and is not breathing is that it might harm the patient, but actually it’s not possible to make the situation any worse. Even if you aren’t an expert in giving chest compressions, it’s been shown from studies that you can at least double if not treble someone’s chances of survival by having a go at giving chest compressions.”