East Anglian Air Ambulance urging people to learn CPR and how to use defibrillators
The air ambulance charity in the East of England is urging people to learn basic first aid, including how to use a defibrillator.
Last updated 27th Oct 2023
The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) service wants to raise awareness of the importance of knowing what to do if a person is found unresponsive.
If a person is found in a state of cardiac arrest, the minutes and seconds that follow are vital for their chances of survival.
Earlier this week, a report from the Resuscitation Council found over 60% of people across the UK not feeling confident enough using a defibrillator.
To reverse this trend, the EAAA offers free sessions to schools, organisations and members of the public on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use a defibrillator.
"There is often that apprehension to go in and act if you don't necessarily know that person..."
Page Chamberlain, Critical Care Paramedic at East Anglian Air Ambulance, said: "I can't stress enough how important it is to learn CPR, and how to use a community defibrillator."
"Most bystander CPR is performed by friends and relatives that are with the patient at the time of collapse."
When an incident occurs, 999 can talk anyone through how to resuscitate a person whose heart stopped beating.
However, it is often the case that if the person who is found unresponsive is a stranger, bystanders are more reluctant to perform CPR and would rather wait for emergency services to arrive at the scene.
Ms Chamberlain said: "There is often that apprehension to go in and act if you don't necessarily know that person, you don't really have that same compulsion I guess."
"The ambulance service will help you through on the 999 call and tell you exactly what to do and how to do a hands only rescue, so you don't have to go near that person's mouth."
Incidents can happen anywhere, to anyone, which is why the EAAA insists on the importance of knowing CPR, and reviewing knowledge, should anyone find themselves in this situation.
"...he had pretty much gone blue so I realised he was in cardiac arrest."
This is exactly what happened to Emma Darker, a Hertfordshire resident who saved a person's life at Luton Airport in May 2022.
When exiting the plane, Ms Darker witnessed a passenger, Johnny Martin, experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest.
She performed CPR on him until an airport staff worker brought her a defibrillator, which she did not hesitate to use.
Ms Darker said: "With help from the staff, we turned him onto his back, and he had pretty much gone blue so I realised that he was in cardiac arrest."
"CPR is the first thing you should be doing in a situation like that, where you can't see the person breathing, they're completely unresponsive, and you can't see a pulse."
In later weeks, Ms Darker found out Johnny Martin had undergone tests with a cardiologist, who had given Mr Martin the 'all clear'.
Ms Darker has, since, campaigned for people to get informed about how sudden a cardiac arrest can be, and how it can happen to anyone, even if all signs point to a healthy heart.
She also wants to raise awareness of knowing your surroundings to locate defibrillators, as well as request for more to be installed from the local authority.
She said: "Unfortunately, I don't think it's as easy to access them. I know where they are in my local area just because, after what happened, I made sure that I did."
You can find more information on the East Anglian Air Ambulance service and their first aid sessions here.