New Year, New Skills!

January marks a new beginning for us all each year and during this time of year, many people take it upon themselves to set themselves a New Years Resolution in readiness for the year ahead.

For the majority, things such as hitting the gym more often, eating healthier or stopping a bad habit takes the number one spot on their list of resolutions, but as you’ve probably found out yourself, it’s no easy task achieving these resolutions, whatever they may be.

If you’ve already set yourself a New Year’s Resolution, it won’t hurt to add another one to your list of changes to make in 2018 and the one we have in mind could be the best decision you’ve ever made. Learning CPR could equip you with the confidence and skills to act in an emergency and even go as far as to save a life!

Approximately in the UK, 30,000 Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests occur each year; 80% of these events will occur at home, the remaining 20% will occur in a public place. The current rate of initial bystander CPR in England alone is reported to be 43%, but only 20% of victims’ hearts are in a shockable rhythm when the EMS arrive.

For us, these statistics are reason enough to become trained in CPR, but here are three other reasons why you should add learning CPR to your list of New Year’s Resolutions.

Be the Difference

Many people are unaware, but you can be the difference between life and death for victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. If someone were to suffer an SCA, your CPR skills would help to provide effective chest compressions for the casualty which would help to maintain a steady blood flow to the vital organs, keep their heart in a shockable rhythm and increase their chances of survival.

If the patient were to receive treatment prior to the emergency services arriving, their chances of survival will increase, significantly. Effective CPR and defibrillation of the heart is the only definitive treatment for victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and can increase the casualty’s chance of survival from 6% to 74%.

New Year, New Employment

A New Year can mean the hunt for a new job begins. A change of job role and scenery isn’t achieved without going through the nerve-wracking interviews.

Having a First Aid qualification listed on your CV will demonstrate to your potential new employer your passion for providing a helping hand and your desire to continually expand on your existing skill set.

Whether you’re starting a completely new job role or staying with your existing employer for another year, why not raise the suggestion of becoming a first aider on behalf of your workplace? You could even encourage others to become a first aider too. Knowledge is power and there is strength in numbers, so why not help increase the safety statistics of your workplace by encouraging fellow colleagues to become a first aider too?

Improving the UK’s Survival Statistics

As stated before, there are approximately 30,000 Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests every year in the UK alone. In 2013, the EMS attempted to resuscitate approximately 28,000 people after they fell victim to SCA.

Of the 28,000 they attempted to resuscitate, only 8.6% of these patients survived and went on to be discharged from hospital. In England, the current rate of initial bystander CPR is reported to be 43%; if this number was higher, more patients would have a higher survival chance as CPR is part of the definitive treatment required by SCA victims.

If a defibrillator and effective CPR is delivered within 3-5 minutes of the patient collapsing, their survival chance increases from 6% to 74%. Without immediate treatment, 90%-95% of victims will die.

When a defibrillator is used, it delivers an electrical current to the heart which actually stops it completely. This allows the body’s natural pacemaker to restart the heart in a regular rhythm.

By becoming trained in CPR, you can act with confidence should a cardiac emergency occur. This will help to prompt a speedy recovery and increase survival statistics for the whole of the UK. If more people were trained, more people would survive.

A Skill for Life

CPR is a skill for life that can, in fact, save a life! Spending just a few hours learning how to deliver this skill effectively could give back a lifetime to someone who fell victim to SCA.

We hope this post has provided you with an understanding of how much a difference you could make to someone’s life by adding CPR to your New Year’s Resolution list.

Maybe you’re already one step ahead of us and are already First Aid trained! If so, great! What led to you getting your qualification? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section below or head on over to social media and join in the conversation on Twitter, @defibshop.