Everyone invited to join 'Restart a Heart Day' in Truro
An event is being held to teach people how to do CPR and offer advice
People are being invited to join 'Restart a Heart Day' in Truro, to learn how to save a life.
The event, run by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT), aims to improve public awareness of cardiac arrests.
It also hopes to increase the number of people who are trained to act in a medical emergency.
The pop-up will be at Farmers Market on Lemon Quay today (Saturday 15th October) between 9am and 4pm. It will offer free CPR and defibrillator awareness training to members of the public.
Ollie Zorab, Clinical Lead for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest at SWASFT says: "This Restart a Heart Day, we want to empower people to know what to do, should the worst happen.
"I often hear people say they would be worried about hurting somebody when performing CPR or using a defibrillator. In reality, when someone has a sudden, unexpected cardiac arrest, doing nothing is the only way of making their situation worse".
Each year first aid training organisations, universities, charities and UK ambulance services come together to increase public awareness of cardiac arrests and increase the number of people trained in lifesaving CPR.
In the last six years, SWASFT have responded to and provided a resuscitation attempt for over 21,000 patients following a cardiac arrest, with 75% experiencing it at a private location such as a home or holiday address. Out of these patients, 65% received bystander CPR before the arrival of the first ambulance response.
At today's (Saturday 15th October) free event, members of the public can learn about cardiac arrests, find out what a defibrillator does and learn how to deliver life-saving CPR, by practicing on mannikins and learning how to use a defibrillator.
All of those taking part will get a certificate for completing the 15-minute training.