CPR confidence low for 'very long time', says Cambridgeshire trainer
More than a third of adults wouldn't feel confident saving a baby's life with CPR, new figures show
Last updated 12th Jul 2023
More than a third of adults wouldn't feel confident saving a baby's life with CPR, and the need to learn is even stronger.
That's the view of one CPR trainer in Cambridgeshire after figures from PR firm Markettiers were revealed.
The research also found 41% of adults wouldn’t feel confident saving a baby’s life with CPR if they went into cardiac arrest.
Deborah Slator has been teaching the lifesaving skill for 35 years:
“Confidence in first aid has been low for a very long time and I think that’s because there’s people who think you might get sued and other things,” she said.
“People think they’re perhaps not capable of doing it or it’s someone else’s job to be doing it; I think now is the time that things should be changing.”
In Cambridgeshire, roughly 3,600 cardiac arrests that take place out of hospital each year in the East of England according to the British Heart Foundation, while 1 in 14 survive them.
And around 60 babies a year are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect in the county.
Fear may drive CPR confidence stigma in adults
Cathy, a Cambridgeshire primary school worker, attended a recent child and baby CPR course and feels the confidence stigma amongst adults could be down to fear.
“I think babies appear fragile and especially if unresponsive, people can be frightened of doing more damage and hurting them but it’s better to act and do something than nothing,” said Cathy.
“When people have attended courses like this, it’s about word of mouth and they can spread the message of how important it is.
“They can also give basic instructions to somebody unfamiliar and doesn’t know how to do it so they could still support a baby or young child if they’re in trouble.”
Cathy believes that by understanding how taking part in CPR and first aid training could improve a child’s or baby’s life chances, this could encourage more adults to learn these skills.
"The time delay means brain cells are dying"
And by not knowing how to perform CPR, it could have a major impact on that child’s development.
“If we don’t immediately start to do CPR whilst running to the neighbour or thinking who we should phone, the time delay means brain cells are dying,” Deborah added.
“If the child or baby does recover, they’re likely to have a long-term disability as a result.
“If something goes badly wrong, not knowing what to do when your baby is ill is not something you can take back.
“If you haven’t got the knowledge, who’s going to help at that time when you have just a few minutes to make the right decision.”