Tag: Save a Life for Scotland

Save a life! The Restart a Heart campaign aims to save more lives

The Restart a Heart campaign starts today (Mon 16 October), a  lifesaving initiative aiming to help save more lives across Scotland by teaching people vital resuscitation skills which can be used if someone goes into cardiac arrest. 

Around 3,200 people in Scotland have an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) every year with people in deprived areas twice as likely to have one. 

Survival rates for OHCA have doubled in Scotland in the past eight years due to initiatives such as Restart a Heart and the public are being encouraged to sign up so we can improve further.  

Steven Short, the Scottish Ambulance Service’s OHCA Programme Lead, said: “Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest. Early CPR and the use of a defibrillator is essential to increasing the chances of survival. 

“With most cardiac arrests happening at home, knowing CPR and being confident to act could save a loved one’s life. The chances of survival reduces by around 10% for every minute without CPR, so it’s essential that as many people as possible sign up to learn these lifesaving skills. You never know when you might need them.”  

One member of the public who has benefitted is John Hooper, of Milngavie. John, a dad-of one and grandfather of three, was recently reunited with ambulance crew Sophie Barrett and Kayleigh MacDonald, both of Leverndale Ambulance Station, who saved his life after he collapsed while out running outside Clober Golf Club on Craigton Road, Milngavie, on May 18, 2023. 

John said: “Thanks to a neighbour and several bystanders, I was given CPR immediately and a defibrillator was brought out from the golf club. Ambulance service personnel then arrived and continued to give me lifesaving treatment before taking me to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. 

“Were it not for the efforts of everyone involved I would not be here today. I am so grateful to your staff. Having performed CPR several times myself when I was an operational fire officer, I never thought it would need to be performed on me.

“My family and me sincerely thank everyone involved and hope they know how much it means to us. I am still here to be with them. I’ll be forever grateful.” 

John is pictured with Sophie, on the left, and Kayleigh

Find out more and get ‘CPR ready’ by visiting www.savealife.scot 

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. 

We can all be lifesavers: Save a Life for Scotland CPR campaign launched

ill do it

Save a Life for Scotland, a national campaign which aims to train half a million people to carry out life-saving CPR, was launched on Friday – European Restart a Heart Day.

Save a Life for Scotland is the campaign behind Scotland’s new strategy to improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The aim is to train a further 500,000 people in CPR and save an additional 1,000 lives over the next five years.

The campaign was launched at an event on Princes Street organised by the Resuscitation Research Group at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

It was attended by Maureen Watt, Minister of Public Health, and representatives of the partners involved in the campaign, including Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, Defence Medical Services, Police Scotland, St Andrew’s First Aid, British Red Cross, British Heart Foundation, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS).

Ms Watt said: “When a person goes into cardiac arrest it means their heart has stopped completely. The only chance of saving their life is to restart the heart as soon as possible. If they aren’t in hospital the chance of a medical professional being close at hand is slim.

“That is why it’s so important that members of the public know how to do CPR and are confident enough to try it. The Scottish Government fully backs Save a Life for Scotland. Training an extra 500,000 people in this life-saving skill could save thousands of lives over the next few years.

“CPR is one of the most valuable skills anyone can have. There are many opportunities to learn, just visit savealife.scot or the Facebook page for more details.”

Dr. Gareth Clegg, NHS Lothian Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Resuscitation Research Group lead, said: “Across Scotland, around 3,500 people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest undergo attempted resuscitation but only 1 in 20 survive to hospital discharge.

“Receiving really good CPR from a bystander before paramedics arrive can more than double chances of recovery. That is why it is crucial that more people are made aware of how and where they can access CPR training and sign up to take part. Everyone has lifesaving equipment on them – but you need to know how to use it.”

The campaign is also being backed by East Lothian father-of-two Gregor Newton, 45, who received CPR from his wife after unexpectedly collapsing at home in April last year.

Gregor said: “It was totally out of the blue. I was fit with no health issues and no health concerns and never expected I would have a cardiac arrest. My son, Harry, found me on the floor and immediately called for his mum, Judy, who was able to start CPR.

“She continued with other bystanders until a local Community First Responder made it to the scene and took over, using a defibrillator to shock my heart back into rhythm. I’m very lucky to still be here and now know how crucial it was to have this early intervention. ”

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Dave Boyle, Assistant Chief Officer and Director of Service Delivery, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is proud to be working in partnership with the British Heart Foundation in a bid to help train as many people as possible in the use of CPR across Scotland.

“This partnership is one part of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s commitment to support the Scottish Government’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy and Save A Life for Scotland campaign. We want to contribute to saving an extra 1000 lives in Scotland by 2020.

“We have a network of fire stations across Scotland and each of them will house a CPR kit. Members of the public are encouraged to contact their local fire officer or fire station and arrange a visit and some training. The training will empower people and give them the skills they need to deliver life-saving assistance to anyone suffering from cardiac arrest.

“We are extremely grateful to the British Heart Foundation for providing the CPR kits and we hope this initiative will save hundreds of lives in the weeks, months and years to come.”

A number of events took place all over the country on Restart a Heart Day to mark the launch of Save a Life for Scotland. These included awareness days and free training stations taking place at fire stations, ambulance stations and events hosted by St Andrew’s First Aid.

Members of the public will be encouraged to learn the basic skills of CPR, and when to use them. It is estimated that improving knowledge of CPR techniques could more than double survival rates. Big screens around the marquee will show videos telling the stories of survivors, bystanders and also giving information and news from the relevant charities involved.

For more information visit savealife.scot

follow facebook.com/savealifeforscotland

and/or @savealifescot on Twitter.

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