The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the NCSEM-EM to give cardiac arrest victims fighting chance of survival.
Loughborough University is to become a community of lifesavers after it has been fitted with a public access defibrillator (PAD) and has been awarded a CPR training kit by the BHF. The NCSEM-EM, based at Loughborough University raised £400 to part-fund the potentially lifesaving machine and received the Call Push Rescue training kit following its successful application for a Nation of Lifesavers Community Package from the charity.
The Community Package contains the innovative kit which includes everything needed to learn CPR in half an hour.
The defibrillator is a portable device that can be used by a member of the public to help restart the heart when someone has a cardiac arrest. This is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body and they lose consciousness almost at once. For every minute that passes without defibrillation and CPR, chances of survival decrease by around ten per cent.
Over 30,000 cardiac arrests happen out of hospital in the UK every year but currently less than one in ten survive. The BHF want to create a Nation of Lifesavers in a bid to boost these shocking survival rates.
The charity is campaigning for defibrillators to be made more accessible and recognisable to the public and want all young people to be taught CPR and PAD awareness at school. Since launching the campaign in 2014, at least 350,000 people have joined the Nation of Lifesavers by learning life saving CPR.
Debra Chantrill, Duty Manager at the NCSEM-EM, said: “We are delighted to have raised enough money to help fund this lifesaving package. The defibrillator will be placed in reception in the NCSEM-EM building meaning that our staff, students, patients and visitors have the best chance of survival should they suffer a cardiac arrest.”
Judy O’Sullivan, Assistant Programme Director at the BHF, said: “More than 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital every year but less than one in ten survive. More people could be saved if more defibrillators were available in public places and if more people felt confident using them and performing CPR. We are delighted that the NCSEM-EM has joined the BHF’s Nation of Lifesavers campaign – by making another defibrillator available at Loughborough University. It could really be the difference between life and death.”
To date the BHF has helped place over 13,000 life-saving defibrillators in communities around the UK. The BHF asks for a contribution of £400 towards each defibrillator as part of the Community Package. To find out more about defibrillators and how to place one in your organisation or community visit www.bhf.org.uk.
The NCSEM-EM plans to run an Automated Defibrillator Device (AED) training session for all interested staff on Friday 29 July. To book your place, please visit my.HR or contact ncsem-em@lboro.ac.uk to book a place.
For more information on how you can help BHF create a Nation of Lifesavers visit bhf.org.uk/lifesavers