Basic CPR skills will save lives, says St John Ambulance volunteer
People are being encouraged to learn the skill apart of a day of action and awareness
A St John Ambulance volunteer from Salisbury is encouraging us to learn basic CPR skills to help save lives.
The call comes on a day of action and awareness of the benefits of knowing emergency first aid.
SJA volunteer Tim Watt told us that more than 40,000 cardiac arrests happen away from hospitals across the UK every year, with survival rates as low as one in 10.
Tim said: "But those survival rates can be massively increased, at least doubled if somebody practises CPR on the casualty and fetches a defibrillator and uses it really quickly.
"Whilst the chances of survival are not that great, they're massively improved with a tiny bit of knowledge and a bit of confidence."
He added that responding quickly and doing "a few simple things" can make all the difference in preserving a life.
The use of a defibrillator is also critical, as it significantly boosts the chances of survival.
And while they are complex pieces of kit, Tim insists we have no reason to worry about using one.
"They are really easy to use. Anyone can use one and they cannot possibly harm the casualty," he said. "When you open a defibrillator, it tells you what to do really clearly, but of course that's really only really effective if you're also doing CPR or you've got somebody else doing CPR at the same time."
Tim said the most important thing is to have one nearby and to know where it is.
He's encouraging people to practice the skill of CPR at home, or by attending a session being held locally.
The St John Ambulance team in South Wiltshire regularly gets out into the community with sessions at village halls, schools or with community groups to teach the skills.
"We cover CPR, so that's stuff to do largely with the heart going wrong, but we also cover choking and bleeding and also generally what to do in an emergency. How do you call for help? What do you need to say? How do you do the basics of managing an incident either on your own or if there are other people there?" Tim said.
He added that they cover responding to an emergency for infants or young children, with the response having some small differences to that of an adult.
While we can learn the skills at events held by the St John Ambulance, we can also find out more about resuscitation skills on their website.