Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, any time. Could you help?
You’re in the supermarket, enjoying a coffee, in your local café, on a night out with old friends or just walking down the street.
Suddenly, someone if front of you drops to the ground. They’re unconscious and not breathing.
What will you do?
Walk by and pretend you didn’t notice.
Get out your mobile phone and start recording what’s going on, better still take a “selfie”
Stand there, transfixed in panic
Or will you be the one with the confidence to do something.
Check for signs of response and confirm if the person is breathing? They may have had a cardiac arrest.
Can you instruct one of the bystanders to call 999 to call an ambulance and find out where the nearest AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is kept?
Can you start CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation). Compressing the casualty’s chest 30 times and then giving 2 rescue breaths, repeatedly, until professional help arrives makes a difference.
Do you know where your nearest AED is kept, would you have the confidence to open the box and use it? If you want to know where your nearest public AED is located here’s the Save a Life app to help.
Making a difference
You really can make a difference by starting CPR and defibrillation, immediately. Follow the Resuscitation Council Chain of Survival
Learning Basic Life support skills like CPR and how to use an AED are brilliant life skills which you really should know. Book one of our CPR First Aid Training Courses
Remember, it’s not always someone else lying on the cold ground, unconscious and not breathing,
it could be a close relative, a best friend or
YOU.
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