Join Our Campaign and Become a Heart Hero

Some heroes fight fires and others fight illness, but the one uniting factor is that they keep people safe and they work towards protecting others from potentially fatal events. But even despite their dedication to keeping our communities safe, these heroes can’t always be there, which means that it’s down to us – the general public – to help them out.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains a leading cause of death in the UK, with an estimated 30,000 cases each year. This potentially fatal event can happen to any person at any time, and for each minute that passes without the victim receiving treatment, their chance of survival decreases by 10%. It is thought that only one in 10 out-of-hospital SCA victims will survive, and this has been attributed to the lack of fast and efficient treatment.

Why Can’t the Ambulance Service Help?

It does! Britain’s paramedics are working tirelessly to help the people who need them the most, and although they make SCA treatment a priority, the average emergency-service response-time is 11 minutes in urban areas. In the event of an SCA, 11 minutes is not a quick enough time to save a person’s life.

Without immediate treatment, 90-95% of sudden cardiac arrest victims will die, and if a defibrillator is used within the first three to five minutes of cardiac arrest, the victim’s chance of survival increases from 6% to 74%.

This means that quick responses from bystanders can keep a victim alive until the paramedics arrive to deliver further life-saving treatment.

How Can You Be a Heart Hero?

If you witness a sudden cardiac arrest, you should act fast to deliver treatment to the person – in this situation, every second counts.

The British Heart Foundation outlines three steps that can be taken in order to create a community of heart heroes:

Increase public knowledge: If you know how to respond in the event of a cardiac arrest, SCA victims will have the best chance at survival. Increase the availability of AEDs: This life-saving equipment – coupled with CPR – is the only way to treat someone who suffers an SCA. We need more of them. Increase the ability to identify the locations of AEDs: Even if you have an AED nearby, you might not know about it, and this could mean the difference between life and death.

Becoming a Heart Hero

If you see somebody suffer an SCA, you should do the following:

Phone the emergency services: This is an essential first step, because it gives the ambulance service as much notice as possible to get to the victim. This will reduce the amount of time before the victim starts to receive proper care, and could therefore save their life. Begin to perform CPR: The emergency services will talk you through the proper steps for performing CPR. This will keep the blood flowing around the victim’s body and ensure that their essential organs survive. Locate and use a defibrillator: Early defibrillation is essential to saving the life of a person who suffers an SCA. AEDs will detect when the person needs to receive an electric shock and will deliver it with minimal intervention required from you.

Make Your Area a Safer Place

Like any other hero, your goal should be to make your area a safer place. Because early defibrillation is essential to saving a person’s life in the event of an SCA, it’s up to members of the community, business owners, and venue managers to ensure that this life-saving equipment can be easily reached in the event of this potentially fatal event.

Invest in a defibrillator. Protect your community. Become a heart hero.

defibshop are committed to equipping everyone with the skills and knowledge to save a life. Speak to one of our Product Specialists on 0161 776 7422 or fill out our Contact Form.