Calls for more people to learn CPR in North Yorkshire
Donna Bates says her life was saved by strangers after she collapsed on a cliff top on the Yorkshire Coast
A Mum who had a cardiac arrest on a cliff top is backing a fresh drive to get more people across North Yorkshire trained in CPR.
An app is being used to get people signed up as cardiac responders, it'll then send an alert if somebody near them needs their help.
Donna Bates collapsed at Flamborough Head last Summer, her life was saved by a stranger: "We'd just done an 8 miles walk, we had just gone for an ice cream on the beach and I just felt really short of breath, no different really from usual, and then all of a sudden within about 5 minuets I went from short of breath to unconscious with my heart stopped." Her life was saved by two mystery passers by who knew how to keep Donna alive until the paramedics could get to her. She tells us she feels lucky to be alive: "I put my children to bed, we go out in the sunshine and you've got to pinch yourself and think I shouldn't be here for this, it's only because one random person knew CPR, you can literally save someone's life and it's such a simple thing as well."
The app is being launched by the Resuscitation Council UK who say 'With 80% of cardiac arrests taking place out-of-hospital, every second counts. Yet new research shows that only half (51%) of UK adults would be confident to perform CPR on a loved one if they witnessed a cardiac arrest. The lack of quick or effective treatment is a major reason why so few people survive.'
They've teamed up with the GoodSAM app to recruit more members of the public to sign up as volunteer cardiac responders, with the aim of teaching them life-saving skills. Once people have been trained through the Resus Council’s lifesaving course, they’ll be able to sign up to the GoodSAM app which would alert responders – who are members of the public – to a cardiac arrest that is near them, likely a person in need in their own neighbourhood.