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Midlands Air Ambulance Charity
Restart A Heart Day: Wednesday 16th October 2019
Having attended almost 1,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests in 2018, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is marking Restart A Heart Day 2019 by raising awareness of the service’s CPR training scheme, and aims to run a training session every week over the next two years.
Every year, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s health partner, West Midlands Ambulance Service attends more than 4,000 out of hospital cardiac arrest. The doctors and specialist paramedics working with Midlands Air Ambulance Charity support a quarter of these cases.
“The chances of a person surviving a cardiac arrest without CPR are sadly dismal, and despite our ability to reach and start treating a patient within 15 minutes, if they haven’t received CPR within the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest, it’s still highly unlikely they will survive,” highlights Ian Roberts, air operations manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.
Due to this stark reminder, the team at the charity is offering training in CPR to schools, colleges and adults. Since starting the training programme in July, the charity has already trained over 350 members of the public to perform this vitally-important lifesaving skill. The charity is now expanding its training offering by pledging to run at least one session per week, and is encouraging groups, societies, schools and businesses to get in touch to find out how they can take part, and learn this vitally important lifesaving skill.
Ian continues: “With a cardiac arrest every second counts and citizen CPR from a friend, loved one or bystander helps to save lives and improve patient outcomes. Our training sessions are informative and practical, and will give participants the confidence to step forward and assist, should they ever need to.”
The Restart A Heart Day campaign is organised by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Resuscitation Council. The initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of CPR, highlighting that if a person suffers an out of hospital cardiac arrest in the UK, they have less than a one in ten chance of surviving.
For more information on Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s CPR training scheme and to book a training session for your school, college, business or community group, email michelle.mccracken@midlandsairambulance.com.