Essex woman calls on CPR-trained people to join interactive heat map
Resuscitation Council UK's 'ResusReady' campaign hopes to show inequalities in access
A new campaign, launched by Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) hopes to help save more lives from a cardiac arrest, particularly where inequalities in resuscitation exist.
According to Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK), there are more than 100,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK.
Yet bystander CPR is performed less often in deprived communities.
"Bystander CPR can double the chance of survival from an Out of hospital cardiac arrest."
The ResusReady campaign is calling on businesses, who have CPR trained staff, and individuals across the UK to pledge to being ResusReady and appear on an interactive heat map.
This would allow RCUK to identify where the gaps in CPR training and defibrillator awareness still exist in the UK.
The initiative also aims to address inequalities in CPR training and access, particularly across different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. By signing up, participants will help populate an interactive map, allowing RCUK to target areas in need of additional CPR training resources.
Any individual, organisation, business, community hub, charity, sports centres, school and more can sign up to be badged ResusReady, if they have taken any type of lifesaver training. Participants will receive a ResusReady badge and a certificate of recognition.
We spoke to Essex-based Esther Kuku, the director of communications at Resuscitation Council UK.
She said "a sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone at any time, and without immediate action, the person will die."
"80% of cardiac arrests occur outside of the hospital."
"That means, if you had to carry out CPR, it may well be on a loved one at home.
"It is so important to be CPR-trained as it really can make all the diference."
The ResusReady campaign is part of the RCUK's wider "Restart A Heart" initiative, running throughout October, with the goal of increasing the number of people trained in CPR and defibrillator use.
If you'd like to be part of the campaign, the RCUK ask to visit their website.