Register your defibrillator to help save lives across Scotland

The Circuit: Charities and health organisations urge people to register their defibrillators on database to help save lives

A new campaign has been launched across Scotland to urge defibrillator owners to register their devices on a national database to help save more lives from cardiac arrests.

Leading charities and health organisations have come together calling for defibrillators to be registered on The Circuit – The national defibrillator network, which connects defibrillators to NHS ambulance services across the UK, so that in those crucial moments after a cardiac arrest they can be accessed quickly to help save lives.

There are around 3,200 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in Scotland, but only one in ten people survive.
Every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10 per cent in some instances, but immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival.
It’s estimated that public-access defibrillators (PADs) are used in less than one in ten out-of-hospital cardiac arrests across the UK – often because 999 call handlers aren’t always aware that a defibrillator is available nearby because the ambulance service hasn’t been told about it. If they don’t know it is there, they can’t direct someone at the scene to retrieve it while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

To help save more lives, The British Heart Foundation (BHF), Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) St John Ambulance and Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), are urging people who look after defibrillators in places such as offices, communities, shopping centres and leisure centres, as well as in public places, to register them on The Circuit.

James Jopling, Head of BHF Scotland, said: ““Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest and, alongside CPR, prompt use of a defibrillator is critical in giving them the best chance of survival.

“To put it simply, knowing where the nearest defibrillator is could be the difference between life and death.

“The Circuit is pioneering technology which will help emergency services direct bystanders more quickly to a defibrillator when someone collapses with a cardiac arrest. But for The Circuit to save lives, it is vital that unregistered defibrillators are put on the system. If you, or somebody you know is a defibrillator guardian, then we urge you to register your device on The Circuit. You could help save a life.”

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “When someone calls 999 to report a cardiac arrest, the call handlers in our control rooms are trained to provide the location of the nearest registered defibrillator within 500m of the call.

“Studies show that using a defibrillator within three minutes of collapse, along with starting CPR, can greatly increase chances of survival.

“This swift action can make a real difference, and The Circuit is a vital tool in helping increase bystander action to help someone in cardiac arrest. Over the last five years, the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership which includes SAS, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has equipped over 640,000 people with CPR skills, and the survival rate after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has doubled to one in ten people.

“However, there’s more we can do, and to help save even more lives, we would urge everyone to register the defibrillators that they are responsible for on The Circuit, so that they can be easily located and accessed when needed.”

Dr James Cant, Chief Executive Officer at Resuscitation Council UK, said: “A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Not only is defibrillator use a crucial step in the Chain of Survival, the presence of defibrillators in public places can help raise awareness and stimulate people to think about what they would do in an emergency.

“Survival depends on all links in the Chain of Survival being carried out quickly. This means early recognition and calling for help, early CPR, early defibrillation and post resuscitation care – and The Circuit plays a vital role in giving people their best chance of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest.”

While the 14 UK ambulance services have previously had their own regional databases, The Circuit will eventually replace these with a new national database that lets the ambulance services see defibrillators across the UK once it has been rolled out. This will allow them to direct people to the nearest defibrillator when somebody is having a cardiac arrest, wherever they are.

The Circuit, which is already live in 12 of the 14 ambulance service regions across the UK[1] and will become nationwide soon, could help to save thousands of lives – but it is vital that as many defibrillators as possible are registered on the database for it to work effectively.

It’s free to register your defibrillator onto The Circuit, and you only have to do it once. You can also register multiple defibrillators if you are the guardian to more than one.

Visit TheCircuit.UK for more information or to register your defibrillator.

Ambulance Service call handler ‘saved my husband’s life’

A woman who performed CPR on her husband has sent a heartfelt thanks to the call handler who saved his life after giving instructions over the phone.

Karen Galloway, 42, of Cambuslang, Glasgow, has praised call handler, Sarah Mark, and said her husband would not be alive today if not for her actions on September 28, 2021.

She said: “Sarah saved my husband’s life and because of that our sons still have their Dad and I can’t thank her enough. She was amazing; she was not only my husband’s guardian angel that night but our family’s.”

Describing the “terrifying” incident, Karen said she was at home with Alan, 46, and sons, Cameron and Nathan. Alan had “gone about his day and evening as normal”, before she noticed part of his speech sounded “slurred”.

She added: “He said he felt fine and he looked fine. He then went into kitchen but as our son Cameron was at the top of the stairs he heard a noise, he ran down then he called for me.

“By the time I got downstairs, he had stopped physically seizing but his mouth was clamped shut and his limbs and hands ridged. His eyes were open. I asked him if he was ok; he made a noise and squeezed my hand. He then closed his eyes and went into what we thought was a sleep. I put him in the recovery position.”

Karen said she called for an ambulance, as Alan was having “more frequent seizures”, and his breathing was not normal. Sarah, a call handler based at The Scottish Ambulance Service’s East Ambulance Control Centre in South Queensferry, answered.

Karen added: “Sarah was fantastic; she was very calm, reassuring me I was doing a good job and I was doing everything ok. She then asked me to let her know every time Alan took a breath in and out. I knew his breathing wasn’t right; it was getting longer between breaths and longer exhaling.

“She told me an ambulance was on its way with blue lights and siren. I was terrified on the inside as our two sons could see Alan was struggling.”

Karen was asked by Sarah to start giving instructions for CPR over the phone.

She added: “I was petrified because I knew what was coming next. She asked me to get him on to his back and tilt his head back to open airway. She asked me again to count his breaths in and out. I knew she was going to say he needs help and needs CPR but never in a million years did I think it would be me doing it.

“Sarah said ‘I need you to listen to me as you need to start CPR, count with me 1,2,3,4.’

Our two sons where hysterical at this point and I had to say to our oldest son Cameron ‘I need you to stay calm, go see your brother. I need to be able to hear the instructions from Sarah loud and clear to help your Dad’.”

After telling Sarah she was ready, Karen started to give CPR. She added: “With each chest compression, I kept saying to myself ‘please God don’t take him from me, not yet’, and by the grace of God he started breathing normally and came round. I have never felt so sick, relieved all at once.”

Just as he had come round the ambulance crew – Amanda Clark, Paramedic and Audrey Gillies, Paramedic, both of Hamilton Station, along with Melanie Mcdevitt, Paramedic of Springburn Station, arrived after being dispatched by Mandy Brogan.

Karen said: “I have never been so relieved to see an ambulance crew in all my life. The ambulance crew were amazing. They came in, took over, and were continually telling Alan and I what they were doing.

“Members of our family had arrived and one ambulance crew member went out and spoke to all the family, reassuring them he was okay and what they were doing and where they would take him.

“The service from the call handler to the ambulance crew was amazing, I can’t fault them. Thank you just doesn’t seem enough. To all the ambulance crew and Sarah a million thank yous. This has shown us just how precious life is and not take it for granted. ”

Calls for compulsory Sudden Cardiac Arrest training to all involved in sport

Leading organisations have come together to call for compulsory sudden cardiac arrest training for all involved in the delivery of sport, during SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome) Awareness Week (4-10 October).

The campaign is spearheaded by UK Coaching, Resuscitation Council UK and the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT) – a charity set up after the tragic loss of Joe Humphries, who died while out jogging with his friend nine years ago this week.

Every week in the UK twelve people under the age of 35 die of sudden cardiac arrest and, of those who experience sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospital, only one in ten survive. If effective action is taken within the first minute, it can treble chances of survival.

The organisations, alongside influential figures which include one of Britain’s greatest Paralympic athletes, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and former England rugby captain and Patron of JHMT, Martin Johnson, are urging everybody who actively delivers sport to undertake sudden cardiac arrest training.

UK Coaching offers a free eLearning course which provides the knowledge and confidence to respond quickly and appropriately in the event of sudden cardiac arrest. The toolkit, funded by Sport England, has been created by UK Coaching in collaboration with Resuscitation Council UK, St John Ambulance and the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust.

Martin Johnson said: “It is so important that everybody who leads or participates in sport knows what to do in cases of sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrests kill 60,000 people outside of hospital in the UK every year and in lots of cases, this could be avoided.

“However, it’s no use people having the skills and knowledge to act if there isn’t a defibrillator nearby. Immediate access to an AED along with CPR gives that person the best possible chance of survival. AEDs need to be as commonplace as fire extinguishers.”

The organisations have also written an open letter to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries, to urge her to mandate sudden cardiac arrest training, as well as ensuring every sporting venue has a defibrillator on site.

UK Coaching’s Chief Executive, Mark Gannon, added: “There have been numerous high-profile instances of sudden cardiac arrest this year and it’s left many questioning if they would know what to do, where the nearest defib is, and most importantly the need to give everyone, from coaches to players, facility staff, parents and spectators, the knowledge and confidence to act fast – because every second really does count.

“It shouldn’t be down to luck – every sporting venue must have an AED on site and sports should be making the course mandatory. I hope we can start a dialogue with Government because every person trained could be another life saved. All it takes is 30 minutes.

“Where we can start to make real strides is by working with National Governing Bodies and sporting organisations to implement the training internally, but our ultimate goal is to make this law.”

To access and complete the free course, go to www.ukcoaching.org/sca

Long distance golfer David completes life-saving challenge

Twelve weeks, over 1,100 miles, a quarter of a million golf shots, more than 920 lost golf balls and an estimated 30,000 people trained in life-saving CPR skills.

This is what former Armed Forces trainer, David Sullivan aged 58 from Oxted in Surrey, has accomplished after setting off from John O’Groats in June on a mammoth mission to walk across the UK while hitting a golf ball and teaching people life-saving CPR skills along the way.

David arrived at his destination of Land’s End on 22^nd August.

David set himself this extraordinary task, which involved walking between 14 and 30 miles every day and camping overnight, to raise awareness of the importance of knowing CPR, and to raise funds that would enable more towns and villages across the country to install life-saving defibrillators.

At every one of David’s stops on his mammoth journey, he trained people how to perform CPR.

David’s passion for teaching CPR came about in 2016 when, while playing golf, he was faced with a life-or-death situation. When a young man experienced a cardiac arrest in front of him, David luckily knew what to do.

He gave CPR for 17 minutes until the man could be treated with a defibrillator.

“It was thanks to my training, and a defibrillator being nearby, that I was able to help save the man, who luckily made a full recovery,” says David. “When something like that happens right in front of you, it makes you realise how precious life is and how important it is to know what to do in that kind of emergency.

“It was an experience which profoundly affected me, and now it’s my mission to create an army of life savers all over the country.”

David had hoped to raise £60k, which would mean that 60 locations in Britain could be kitted out with a defibrillator, but at just over £9k, he is hoping that completing his challenge will encourage more people to donate.

“I’m imploring individuals and businesses all over the country to support this endeavour. Until a cardiac arrest happens to you, or someone you know, it’s impossible to truly understand how critical defibrillators are. Being treated with a defibrillator can literally mean the difference between life and death.

“We saw this recently when Danish footballer Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch. It can happen to anyone at any age at any time. Being treated with a defibrillator increases someone’s chance of survival by up to 70%.”

Donations can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/david-sullivan-77.

American Golf kindly sponsored David on this adventure.

Gary Favell, CEO of American Golf said: “David has been on an incredible journey over the last two months and American Golf is proud to have been behind him, encouraging him every step of the way.

“It’s been fantastic to see the attention that David’s challenge has garnered up and down the country, raising awareness of the importance of knowing CPR, and the enthusiasm that he has shown in training people along his route.

“Huge congratulations to David on all he has achieved – we hope he now enjoys a well-earned rest having reached his final hole.”

For more information visit www.creatinglifesavers.com.

Charity life-saver David stops off in Edinburgh

On Saturday 26^th June, David Sullivan, 58, stopped off at Edinburgh Castle to train local people how to perform life-saving CPR, before continuing his mammoth charity challenge, The World’s Longest Golf Hole.

The journey began at John O’Groats on 11^th June and is set to be completed around 22^nd August at Land’s End.

David, a former armed forces skiing and mountain craft trainer from Surrey, is walking the 1,000 miles and making an estimated 250,000 golf shots, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and to raise awareness of the importance of learning how to perform CPR.

In his challenge, David hopes to raise £60k to help place life-saving defibrillators into villages, towns and cities up and down the country.

David’s passion for teaching people CPR came about when he was faced with a life-or-death situation. When a young man experienced a cardiac arrest in front of him, David luckily knew what to do. He gave CPR for 17 minutes until the man could be treated with a defibrillator.

“It was thanks to my training, and a defibrillator being nearby, that I was able to help save the man, who luckily made a full recovery,” says David.

“When something like that happens right in front of you, it makes you realise how precious life is and how important it is to know what to do in that kind of emergency. It was an experience which profoundly affected me, and now it’s my mission to create an army of life savers all over the country.”

American Golf are kindly sponsoring David on this adventure. Gary Favell, CEO of American Golf said: “When we heard about the incredible challenge David had set himself, we immediately wanted to lend American Golf’s support.

“David has found a way to harness his golfing prowess not only to highlight the importance of knowing CPR through his own personal experience, but to train people along his journey whilst raising funds for the British Heart Foundation – he is a true inspiration.

“American Golf champions inclusivity at every level, and we stand behind every player on their golfing journey – David’s is no exception, and we wish him every success on his mission.”

Donations can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/david-sullivan-77.

Companies wishing to get involved in helping to fund a defibrillator in their region should visit www.creatinglifesavers.com.

Save A Life for Scotland: Ensuring more people can use defibrillators and CPR to save lives

With increased awareness over the weekend on how CPR and defibrillators can save lives, the Scottish Ambulance Service is working with Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) to ensure more people know what to do when they witness someone suffering a cardiac arrest.

There are crucial elements required to save a life when someone is in cardiac arrest, and which we refer to as the ‘Chain of Survival’. The first of these steps is to ensure that people can identify when a cardiac arrest is happening, and there is a defibrillator in the community.

This is followed by early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation to restart the heart; timely hospital care, and appropriate aftercare.

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, says: “Working with the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) campaign and other partners, we want to increase the survivability rates of those who go into cardiac arrest in Scotland.

“Cardiac arrest can affect anyone, of any age at any time or place. It’s vital that we can encourage people to feel more comfortable in calling 999 and to deliver bystander CPR and defibrillation if witnessing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

“Over the last five years, the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership has equipped over 640,000 people with CPR skills, and the survival rate after an out of hospital cardiac arrest has doubled to one in ten people.

“This is really significant progress, but there are even higher rates of survival achievable that we are working towards with the refreshed Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy. The Scottish Ambulance Service will also be working with schools so that we can equip all school children with the skills to be able to perform CPR.”

Dr Gareth Clegg, University of Edinburgh, Chair of the Delivery Group for Scotland’s Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy says: “After a cardiac arrest every second counts. Calling 999 for help, starting chest compression CPR and using a defibrillator as soon as possible is the way to save lives.

“Scotland’s national plan to increase survival after cardiac arrest aims to double the number of cases where a defib is applied by the public – even before an ambulance arrives at the scene. Studies show that using a defibrillator within three minutes of collapse, along with starting CPR, can greatly increase chances of survival.”

Lisa MacInnes, Director of Save a life for Scotland, says: “Every year around 3,500 people in Scotland of all ages suffer a cardiac arrest at home or within the community.

“Save a Life for Scotland is a campaign which aims to increase the chance of survival by encouraging more people to learn about CPR and defibrillators. The simple message of the campaign is that everybody in Scotland has got the power to save lives in their own hands.”

Information on defibrillators:

There are around 4000 public-access defibrillators registered in Scotland and we have a system where people can add their own defibrillators to our database. You can find their locations here: Registering your Automated External Defibrillator (scottishambulance.com)

Defibrillators are designed to be used by members of the public who have not received any training. They provide audible instructions and sometimes visual prompts on a screen, and because they will not allow a shock to be given unless it is needed, it is extremely unlikely that it will do any harm to the person who has collapsed.

Information on identifying cardiac arrests:

To help people identify when someone is suffering a cardiac arrest, it’s important to recognise the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack. A cardiac arrest occurs when someone’s heart stops beating. Because there is no blood flow to the brain, they will suddenly lose consciousness and will stop breathing or stop breathing normally.

A heart attack is where there is a sudden interruption to the blood supply to part of the heart muscle. It is likely to cause chest pain and without treatment will result in permanent damage to the heart.

The heart is still sending blood around the body and the person remains conscious and is still breathing. Both are medical emergencies, and you should call 999, but a cardiac arrest is much more serious.

To Find out more about CPR and defibrillators, visit the Scottish Ambulance Service website – Cardiac Arrest (scottishambulance.com)

Visit savealife.scot to learn more about what organisations are doing across Scotland to save more lives.

World’s Longest Golf Hole: David’s life-saving challenge is heading for Edinburgh

A man undertaking a mammoth ten-week charity challenge will be arriving at Edinburgh Castle on Saturday 26^th June – he is expected to arrive around 3pm.

Former armed forces skiing and mountain craft trainer, David Sullivan, 58, from Surrey, began The World’s Longest Golf Hole challenge on 11^th June. Starting at John O’Groats, he will be walking over 1,000 miles and making an estimated quarter of a million golf shots, before he reaches his final destination, Land’s End.

David is taking on this unusual challenge to raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation. The money raised will help place life-saving defibrillators into villages, towns and cities up and down the country.

At every one of David’s stops on his journey, he will be training local people for free on how to save lives using CPR.

“It was thanks to my training, and a defibrillator being nearby, that I was able to help save the man, who luckily made a full recovery,” says David.

David, who will be joined on the challenge by his son Freddie, 21, hopes his charity challenge will help teach as many people as possible the life-saving skill of CPR and will ensure that many more locations in the country are equipped with defibrillators. David’s fundraising target for the event is £60,000.

“American Golf champions inclusivity at every level, and we stand behind every player on their golfing journey – David’s is no exception, and we wish him every success on his mission.”

Donations can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/david-sullivan-77.

Companies wishing to get involved in helping to fund a defibrillator in their region should visit www.creatinglifesavers.com.

CPR: Same, but different

640,790 Scots equipped with CPR skills

On International Restart a Heart Day on Friday, the Save a Life for Scotland partnership celebrated five years of working together to help more people learn CPR so that should they ever need to do it, they feel more prepared.

Despite not being able to reach people face to face since March, they had managed to equip an amazing 640,790 people with CPR skills up until lockdown in March 2020.

The Save a Life for Scotland Partnership has collectively contributed to a 45% increase in 30-day survival rates for those who have had an out-of-hospital cardiac, arrest doubling to 1 in 10 since the strategy launch in 2015.

When it comes to bystander CPR, the numbers continuing to do it this year in Scotland are pretty incredible. As a nation, amongst everything that’s going on, bystander CPR rates haven’t changed. When someone needs CPR Scots are still helping, still caring and making an incredible difference. Today, the campaign wants to remind you that calling for help and starting CPR is still the right thing to do.

Every year about 3,500 people are treated for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by ambulance crews in Scotland. The Scottish Ambulance Service have made significant improvements to our response to out of hospital cardiac arrest, including early decision making, meaning patients with immediately life-threatening conditions are now being identified earlier in the 999 call process, and treated more rapidly.

When you call 999 and a cardiac arrest is identified, our highly trained call handlers will provide clear instructions on how to perform CPR. Remember any delay in commencing CPR could decrease chances of survival drastically so we ask you to assist right away. Early bystander CPR can increase someone’s chance of survival by 2-3 times.

We understand you may be concerned about what the risks may be around CPR during COVID-19 and CPR guidance has changed slightly due to the current pandemic. Research conducted on behalf of the Resuscitation Council (UK) revealed that a third of UK adults don’t know if, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CPR should only be carried out by professionals wearing PPE.

We want to reassure you that bystander CPR should still be carried out while the ambulance service is on the way and our highly trained call handlers will support you to give essential lifesaving support, in a safe way, until help arrives.

Dr Andrew Lockey, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and co-lead for World Restart a Heart Day, Resuscitation Council UK said: “The principle message for Restart a Heart is that you can still save a life, whilst keeping yourself safe.”

The Resuscitation Council (UK) advise that if you have to administer bystander CPR place a cloth or a towel loosely over the persons face to reduce the risk of any spread.

The Save a Life for Scotland campaign have created a page where you can refresh your CPR knowledge, learn of the small changes to the guidance and perhaps learn for the first time – take a look and learn today. https://www.savealife.scot/adult-resources/learn-cpr/

To showcase how every step of the ‘chain of survival’ is so important to save lives, Robert Hogg shares his story:

A man who had a cardiac arrest on a family holiday said he would not be alive today if not for the Scottish Ambulance Service, the Coastguard and off duty medical staff who swiftly came to his aid.

Robert Hogg was at Sands Campsite, Gairloch, with his wife on August 22 when he collapsed.

He has praised the efforts of everyone involved, including the off duty GP and dive medic who performed CPR until Scottish Ambulance Service arrived, the Coastguard, who transported Robert to Raigmore Hospital, and the hospital staff.

Robert, 54, said: “I remember a few bits before it happened. I walked off to go to the rubbish bins. I dumped the rubbish and turned back around and then I collapsed.”

Robert, a climate control engineer, said he recalled “not feeling great” 10 minutes before he had the cardiac arrest. After he collapsed, an off duty GP and medic diver were nearby and rushed to the scene to give CPR. He said: “It was pure luck it happened where it did – if it had happened at the caravan I would be under the ground. It’s a huge site.

“A GP was having his dinner at a restaurant. There was also a paramedic diver, who was drying his towels, who started CPR.”

A nearby community AED placed by Scottish Charity Lucky2BHere [L2BH] was also located and the GP and diver used it until emergency responders from the Scottish Ambulance Service arrived. Robert was in hospital until the Wednesday following the incident after getting airlifted from the Coastguard SAR. Despite not recalling the incident, his wife has relayed what happened.

He said: “I would not be here if not for everyone involved. Even in such a remote area, they were still able to provide the care and attention I needed. I cannot thank everybody enough. I owe these people my life.”

The story goes further to showcase the importance of community resilience as a key step in the chain of survival because the lifesaving Big Sands L2BH defibrillator used to save Robert’s life was unveiled just last year by Gairloch local, Cherril Parry, whose own life was saved by a community L2BH defibrillator in 2018.

Despite enduring such serious illness, Cherill championed fundraising for a new defibrillator for the area. The ‘Red Phone Box’ where it is located, is well known in the community and when Robert had his cardiac arrest, his team of rescuers knew the location and retrieved the L2BH defibrillator, immediately helping save Robert’s life.

The staff involved in helping this patient were East EMD, Karen Russell, North Supervisor, Alistair Dargie, North Dispatcher Blair Gordon, SSD: Richard Fisher, Sarah Morrison, Michael McKenna, and and Alan McLean

Lisa MacInnes, Director of the Save a Life for Scotland campaign said: “Scotland as ever, continues to step up to look out for each other in their families and communities.

“COVID-19 has highlighted that Scots are ready and willing to care for those around them and when it comes to CPR they continue to be willing to get help and start CPR.

“Our message today is please keep going. Your actions continue to give people the best chance of survival. Please use and share our videos with others to keep the message going that any CPR beats no CPR.”

Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “Starting CPR immediately after the heart stops beating can double, and sometimes triple the chances of survival. The Save a Life for Scotland campaign is an excellent example of how we can all work together to improve a person’s chance of survival.

“Despite the challenges faced this year, people in Scotland continue to demonstrate a willingness to help. I would encourage everyone to learn CPR online.”

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive for Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service would like to say a massive thank you for what you have helped us, and all the strategy partners, to achieve over the last five years.

“Bystander CPR is the most crucial link in the chain of survival and because so many more of you have learnt and been willing to perform bystander CPR we have seen survival double in that time; double the number of people surviving and returning to their loved ones.

“Our message is still clear – early bystander CPR is the difference between life and death for those in cardiac arrest. So please keep attempting CPR. Our call handlers will guide you through how to do this safely, meaning you too can save a life “.

Lucky2BHere Founder, Ross Cowie said: “This amazing story of survival shows how every person in a community can and does play their part in saving a life.

“Lucky2BHere provided the defibrillator and Emergency Life Support training though, on the day it was the incredible community team effort that saved Robert’s life; passing him safely into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.

“We couldn’t be happier for Robert, his family and the whole community.”

British Heart Foundation to teach CPR to Amazon delivery drivers

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has announced that it is helping to train drivers who deliver parcels to Amazon customers across Bathgate in lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), so that they can respond to emergencies when out on the road.

The BHF is working in partnership with Amazon and more than 100 independent delivery companies across the UK, to offer the free training to thousands of drivers.

The BHF has trained Amazon instructors at the Bathgate Delivery Station in CPR and they will pass on their new skills to drivers during 30 minute CPR training sessions.

Every year in the UK, there are up to 30,000 cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting. However, the survival rate is less than one in ten. For every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation, the chance of survival reduces by up to 10%.

In some instances, CPR can more than double a person’s chances of survival, with research suggesting that survival rates are up to 25% in some parts of Europe where CPR is widely taught.

Jacob West, Director of Healthcare Innovation at the British Heart Foundation, said: “CPR is a lifesaving skill that only takes 30 minutes to learn. Unfortunately, in the UK there are far too many people dying of a cardiac arrest, often because people don’t have the skills or confidence to perform CPR. It’s vital that CPR training reaches as many people as possible.

“Drivers deliver Amazon orders to millions of people across the UK every year. This unique partnership will mean we put potential lifesavers on to every street in the UK. A cardiac arrest can happen anywhere to anyone, but more lives can be saved thanks to Amazon’s commitment to training drivers of more than 100 independent delivery companies.”

Kerry-Anne Lawlor, Country Director of Amazon Logistics, added: “We regularly see examples where drivers delivering Amazon parcels for our delivery service partners act selflessly when out on their routes to help others.

“We are delighted to work with the British Heart Foundation to be able to offer drivers lifesaving CPR training to respond in emergency situations.”

Restart a Heart Day: Half a million Scots have CPR skills

Half a million people in Scotland have been equipped in vital life-saving CPR since 2015, it was announced today on Restart a Heart Day (October 16).

Restart a Heart Day – part of the Resuscitation Council’s Restart a Heart Campaign – is the annual worldwide campaign which strives to raise awareness of cardiac arrests and increase the number of people equipped in CPR. Continue reading Restart a Heart Day: Half a million Scots have CPR skills