Unlike other cardiac events and conditions that take age, gender, your current health condition and ethnicity into consideration when determining the cause, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) has no prior symptoms and does not discriminate who it attacks. Sadly, no one is immune, meaning both children and adults alike can fall victim.

Whilst enjoying a holiday in the coastal town of St. Ives with her parents and two siblings, on November 1st an 8-year-old girl fell victim to Sudden Cardiac Arrest with no prior warning. Thanks to effective CPR and a defibrillator being ready for use, she survived.

The Lifeboat Inn

Located just 1 minute away from where the 8-year old collapsed, the defibrillator that saved the young girl’s life was housed by the Lifeboat Inn.

Thanks to the close proximity of the device her rescuers were able to deliver a shock to her prior to the paramedics arriving at the scene. Currently, the national average of ambulance response times in the UK for cardiac arrests is 11 minutes; the paramedics who continued treatment on the 8-year-old post defibrillation arrived in just 4 minutes!

The Lifeboat Inn’s defibrillator was purchased from defibshop by the Ronnie Richards Memorial Charity to provide peace of mind for the public that they are protected against Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

The 8-year-old who was saved is recovering in hospital and is now breathing unassisted and sitting up.

The Ronnie Richard’s Memorial Charity 

The Ronnie Richard’s Charity was set up in 2013 by Paul Williams in memory of his brother-in-law, Ronnie who collapsed and sadly died whilst playing football in Penzance, Cornwall.

He said: “We are proud and delighted to report that our defibrillator at the Lifeboat Inn was used on Wednesday. It was used in the cardiac arrest save of an eight-year-old girl outside a fish and chip shop.”

“She was on holiday with mum and dad and two siblings. I am delighted that the defibrillator was able to help save a person so young, who now has her life to look forward to.”

Continually returning to defibshop for the ‘outstanding service’ they receive, the charity is aiming for 500 AEDs to be placed in Cornwall by the end of 2018. So far, they have invested in 45 from defibshop as well as the Nationally Accredited training which they believe is of high importance. While you don’t have to be trained to use one of these devices, training will help to boost your confidence if an emergency did occur.

Public places aren’t the only focus of the charity, schools are also a focus as are local football clubs, beaches and sports centres. As stated before, no one is immune to Sudden Cardiac Arrest, therefore it is important to protect as many people as possible. The only way to do this is to place AEDs in a variety of public places. The charity is aiming to place at least one device in each of the 283 schools in Cornwall.

On the 29th of June, the Ronnie Richard’s Memorial Charity celebrated the 200th PAD ceremony at the Humphry Davy School which was covered by West Country Television News, BBC Spotlight Television, Heart FM Radio and more.

The guests supporting the programme included South Western Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST), GPs, Police, National Coastwatch Institution, Surf Life Saving Clubs, Businesses, Headteachers, School Teachers, Truro City Council, Parish Councils, Councillors, Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, Community Representatives, Heart Charities and Sports Representatives.

Both the West Country Television and BBC Spotlight featured Henry Snelson from Cape Cornwall School who saved his father when he was just 14 years old. Without Henry jumping into action, delivering CPR and using an AED, his father would not have survived.

SCA Statistics

Currently, in the UK, 270 children fall victim to Sudden Cardiac Arrest each year whilst in school. Since 2005 11-year-olds in Denmark have been taught mandatory CPR training whilst in school. By 2011, bystander CPR doubled in Denmark and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival tripled!

If treatment is delivered within 3-5 minutes of the victim collapsing, their survival chance significantly increases from 6% to 74%. However, if treatment is delayed, for every minute that treatment is not delivered, the casualty’s survival chance decreases 10%.

The only definitive treatment for Sudden Cardiac Arrest is effective CPR, delivered on the ratio of 30 chest compressions to 2 rescue breaths and defibrillation of the heart from a shock delivered by an AED.

Everyone here at defibshop was delighted to hear that the iPAD SP1 Semi-Automatic defibrillator device purchased by the Ronnie Richard's Memorial Charity has helped to save the life of someone so young. Stories like this remind us why what we do is so important, quite simply, we save lives.