CPR provision could have saved dad's life, says Cambridgeshire heart attack survivor
Rob Skoulding's father died of a heart attack in 2009
Last updated 5th Dec 2024
A Cambridgeshire man who survived a heart attack believes his dad may still be alive if there was more CPR services available.
Three years ago, Rob Skoulding's life was saved thanks to a combination of CPR and a defibrillator.
In 2009, his father Peter died of a heart attack.
"I didn't know anything about CPR or defibrillators at that time, but after a few years I found out about it, I thought if we had them in the town, my father may still have been alive," Rob said.
A campaign led by Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) is aiming to increase the number of people surviving cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting by asking different organisations to provide access to CPR training.
In October, Cambridge United fan David Ince was saved by CPR administered by a steward after suffering a cardiac arrest at a U's match.
There are more than 100,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK according to RCUK, and of those treated by ambulance personnel - over 34,000 - fewer than one in 10 people survive.
Defibrillator campaign
Since his dad's death, Rob has helped install 44 defibrillators in his hometown of March as part of his own campaign to get more people learning CPR.
Rob - who wants to set up more CPR training sessions in March in the new year - said his wife Laura "kept me going for 10 minutes with CPR" before a defibrillator was used.
"You never know when you'll need it; a few years ago, I thought I was healthy but after my heart attack, it changes and you realise you can't do the things you used to do," he added.
"It takes roughly about two hours of your time to learn CPR and how to use a defibrillator.
"A defibrillator is nothing to be scared about; if somebody says 'I daren't use that because I'll get sued if I kill somebody', that (defibrillator) will not work if the heart is beating normally."