World Restart a Heart Day takes place on the 16th October each year. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness about Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and to teach people the life-saving skill of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
Restart a Heart Day 2020 will look different to the usual events that take place across the country due to the challenges in place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cardiac arrests have not stopped happening during the pandemic. Approximately 200 people a day experience a Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the UK.
Anyone that suffers an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the UK has less than a one in ten chance of survival.
It’s more important than ever for us to raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and to share the vital life-saving steps to take in a cardiac emergency.
Importance of CPR
For every minute that treatment is delayed, a person in cardiac arrest loses 10% of their chance of survival.
Delivering treatment within 3-5 minutes of the cardiac arrest taking place increases survival chances from 6% to 74%. Without immediate treatment, 90-95% of cardiac arrests are fatal.
Just 46% of Sudden Cardiac Arrest casualty’s receive CPR from a bystander. Just 22% of people in the UK would feel confident enough to provide CPR on a stranger.
The reasons bystanders have given for not providing CPR include;
- Skills not being up to date (28%)
- CPR is too complicated (24%)
- A lack of confidence (18%)
The aim of Restart a Heart Day is to ensure more people are confident in performing life-saving CPR to ultimately improve Sudden Cardiac Arrest survival statistics.
Restart a Heart Day - Previous Years
In previous years, the defibshop team have partnered with the North West Ambulance Service at intu Trafford Centre to mark Restart a Heart Day and share life-saving skills with members of the public.
In 2018, together with NWAS, we successfully trained 702 people in effective CPR and defibrillation after spending 12 hours at the Trafford Centre. In 2019, we replicated this and provided 827 people with skills to save a life.
Get Involved
Effective CPR, performed on a ratio of 30 chest compressions to 2 rescue breaths and a life-saving shock to the heart from a defibrillator is the only definitive treatment for SCA.
There are many ways to get involved in Restart a Heart Day, exploring the #RestartAHeart hashtag on Social Media will keep you up to date with the events and resources shared across the world during the day.
It may be possible to hold a face-to-face training session whilst adhering to government guidelines and restrictions if you are able to:
- Learn hands-only CPR with the adjusted method
- Follow the government’s current social distancing guidelines
- Limit class numbers appropriately
- Ensure face masks or face coverings are worn during the course by attendees and instructors if indoors.
Find out more and apply for a free CPR Kit from the BHF to have the ability to teach life-saving skills in your school, workplace or establishment.
We hoped to be able to hold our usual events at the Trafford Centre this year in partnership with NWAS to train even more people in CPR on Restart a Heart Day 2020.
Sadly, due to the nature of the event and with the high volume of people this involves within such close proximity, it’s unsafe for us to carry out any planned activity whilst adhering to government guidelines.
We will instead be sharing our skills online, so make sure you are following the Restart a Heart hashtag.
defibshop are committed to equipping everyone with the skills and knowledge to save a life. Speak to one of our Product Specialists on 0161 776 7422 or fill out our Contact Form.
