Bolton Wanderers Community Trust has joined up with North West Ambulance Service, Arrhythmia Alliance and Bolton Wanderers Football Club to launch Hearts & Goals, a campaign to reduce deaths from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA);  the UK’s biggest killer.

·         100,000 people are killed from sudden cardiac death in the UK every year

·         That is more people than breast cancer, lung cancer and Aids combined

·         Administering CPR only saves the lives of 5% who suffer SCA

·         CPR with a defibrillator massively increases the survival rate from 5% to 50%

·         Without immediate use of a defibrillator and CPR, Fabrice Muamba would not have survived

An AED was used to defibrillate Fabrice's heart on the pitch immediately after his sudden cardiac arrest. Prompt attention is vital and his story illustrates the importance of instant access to defibrillators to prevent deaths. AEDs are defibrillators that any member of the public can use without training to resuscitate someone who has suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. An SCA victim treated with CPR and a defibrillator is ten times more likely to survive compared to CPR alone. We are campaigning for the placement of at least 500 new public-access defibrillators that are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.