According to the British Heart Foundation, in the UK only about 10% of people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside hospital will survive. This might shock you but the really shocking thing is that it doesn’t need to be like this. Two things can be done by ordinary members of the public which dramatically increase the patent’s chances of survival.
The first is the execution of CPR (which stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation) where you apply pressure repeatedly to the patents chest, pumping blood around their body, keeping them going until help arrives. I would encourage everyone to find out how to do CPR – one day you could save someones life!
The second is by the use of a defibrillator. These can be found in an increasing number of places such as office buildings and supermarkets. The Emergency Services keep a directory of so-called public access defibrillators and people calling 999 can be directed to the nearest one and give them the combination for the box in which it is kept. The problem is that these life saving devices are not as prolific as they should be and every minute away from the victim one is, the chances of survival reduces by 10%.
Now you’ve probably got an image of a defibrillator from popular medical TV shows where the doctor grabs a couple of big pads with handles on, places them on the patients chest, shouts “CLEAR” and then a few seconds later the patent’s body lurches about a foot in the air. Well it’s not like that. The public access defibrillators have instructions that any passer-by can follow. You attach a couple of sticky pads to the patent (the instructions tell you where) and then a voice from the machine tells you want to do – it’s a simple as that! The device monitors the patient’s heart to find out whether the shock is necessary and then tells you when to “press the button” and stand clear.
This is why we want one in our local neighbourhood and Rothwell Baptist Church is in an ideal spot. It has a building that is used by many groups in the community, including baby and toddler groups, kick-boxing and Slimming World, that sort of thing. In order to install one and maintain it to the standards necessary, we need to raise a total of £2,000 and my personal campaign is to raise £200 towards that by running 10K each day in June.
So please donate on my just giving page and help us save a life!
Several years ago, I myself had a heart condition (PAF if you want to look it up) and now I am so glad I to be fit again. Still running strong on day 2 of my challenge, running a long slow 11 miles and feel ready to run again in the morning. Onwards!
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:24 NIV
Marathon Mann 