The Health Minister Mike Nesbitt MLA was one of hundreds of people across Northern Ireland who took the opportunity to learn life-saving CPR on Restart a Heart Day.
The South Eastern Trust’s Resuscitation Team is determined to increase public awareness about CPR and defibrillators and teach these crucial skills.
On Restart a Heart Day (16 October) it took its campaign on tour, stopping in Downpatrick, Lisburn and Stormont, where the Health Minister was shown how to do CPR, use a defibrillator and then receive a training certificate.
Every year in Northern Ireland there are approximately 1,500 out of hospital cardiac arrests, where CPR is attempted. The survival rate here remains less than 1 in 10 so it’s vital to raise awareness about defibrillators (AEDs) which are widely available across the Region, although unfortunately they were only used in 8.5 per cent of cardiac arrests.
A massive 61 per cent of people here say they aren’t confident enough to use one, although they are simple to operate and if deployed within 3-5 minutes, can increase survival rates by as much as 50-70 per cent.
The Trust’s Resuscitation Service Assistant, Sarah Boyle, who showed the Health Minster how to carry out CPR said, “It was really good to see the Health Minister here. It was lovely to meet him. He was very engaged and was happy to do all the training. He did the CPR training and he used the defibrillator (AED) with no instruction, which just proves the point that you don’t need training to use an AED, just follow the very clear instructions.
“Last year in the UK there were thirty two thousand out of hospital cardiac arrests in the community. CPR was started on seventy percent of those out of hospital arrests which is very good but an AED was only used in eight percent of those, which is a criminally low number, especially since AED’s were actually invented here in Northern Ireland by Frank Pantridge. We should definitely be encouraging people to use them more.”
The Executive Director of Nursing in the South Eastern Trust, Dr David Robinson, said he was delighted the Health Minister attended the Restart a Heart Road Show at Stormont stressing, ”I would very much encourage people to learn this vital skill as you never know, whether it’s at home, with your own family, your neighbours in your area or just out and about at the shops, you could step in and save someone’s life.”
Eileen Regan who arrived for the training, described it as, “Very straightforward so I recommend that everyone does it. It only takes about ten minutes of your time!”
Sarah Boyle’s message to the public is simple, “Please get trained in CPR. It’s a lifesaving skill. Even if you can’t physically do CPR, you could tell someone else how to do it and get an AED as quickly as possible. The sooner you get an AED, the more chance you’re giving someone of surviving this medical emergency.”
