In a cardiac arrest, a person’s heart goes into a life threatening rhythm and stops pumping blood around their body and to their brain. It causes the person to fall unconscious and stop breathing (or stop breathing normally).

In the UK there are over 30,000 cardiac arrests a year outside of hospital – in homes and communities – where the emergency medical services attempt resuscitation. However, less than one in ten victims of cardiac arrest survive to be discharged from hospital.

Survival rates in the UK lag behind those in other developed countries and areas such as Norway, where the survival rate is 25%, North Holland where the survival rate is 21%, and Seattle in the US where the survival rate is 20%.7 Although these figures have to be interpreted carefully, as there are differences in the way they are presented, there is consensus that we can – and must - improve survival rates in the UK.

In some cases, CPR can double the chances of survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest. It is therefore vital that anyone that witnesses a cardiac arrest, or finds a victim, has the skills, ability and confidence to step in and help.

We aim to start training members of our own community to be able to reconise a cardiac arrest and start life saving CPR