Just one week left for schools to register for Restart a Heart Day
Schools have just over one week left to register their interest in receiving free lifesaving training from North East Ambulance Service.
This year North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) is once again taking part in Restart a Heart Day, a national campaign ran in conjunction with the Resuscitation Council and the British Heart Foundation to provide free cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to pupils on 16 October 2017.
Schools have until Friday, 31 March to register their interest in taking part in this year’s campaign.
Register online at https://www.neas.nhs.uk/get-involved/restart-a-heart.aspx
NEAS Operations Manager Gareth Campbell said: “Our call handlers supported at least 2,200 people ringing 999 last year to do CPR over the telephone in the critical minutes when an ambulance was travelling. Our crews alone go to around 3,000 patients each year where the patient needs CPR.
“As a paramedic or emergency care worker, there can be nothing worse than arriving at a cardiac arrest to find that no one is doing CPR, meaning that they are already on the back foot. Even with good CPR, defibrillation, drug therapy and treatment it can sometimes be unlikely to get a return of circulation, but the more time without a patient is waiting for help, the more likely the brain will have been starved of oxygen and the chance of surviving to discharge are extremely low.”
“We are encouraging schools to register to take part as this skill is something that people can use for their rest of their lives and maybe one day to save a life. Teaching the next generation the skills will hopefully give them the confidence to help if there’s ever an occasion when they need to – it’s a skill you never really forget and the more people who have it, the greater the chance that patients in cardiac arrest can recover.”
Last year NEAS helped to train over 1,000 young people, including 205 students at Churchhill Community College in Wallsend.
Head teacher David Baldwin said: “It’s so important for us to make sure our young people are in a position where, if they come across a situation where CPR is needed, they realise they can do something to help.
“I would urge other schools to sign up right now. Consider all your staff and children, any one of those could find themselves in this situation and we need to make sure we can help anyone in need.”
Notes to editors
For more information, please contact the NEAS press office on 0191 430 2099 or email publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk
About North East Ambulance Service
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) covers 3,200 square miles across the North East region. It employs more than 2,500 staff and serves a population of 2.7 million people by handling all NHS 111 and 999 calls for the region, operating patient transport and ambulance response services, delivering training for communities and commercial audiences and providing medical support cover at events.
In 2015/16 the service answered 1.160 million emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls, responded to 295,855 incidents that resulted in a patient being taken to hospital, treated and discharged 19,949 patients with telephone advice and treated and discharged 85,021 patients at home. In the same year, emergency care crews reached 132,948 incidents within the national target of 8 minutes.
About British Heart Foundation
The BHF’s Nation of Lifesavers campaign aims to equip all young people and adults across the UK with the vital CPR skills to help save a life. To date, nearly one in four secondary schools across the UK have signed up for and are delivering the BHF’s Call Push Rescue training. The simple and interactive kit includes a tutorial DVD which omits the need for an instructor and means the training can be used to teach far more people, led by schools, employers and community groups.