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HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

The life-saving first aid skills you NEED to know – as 1 in 3 Brits admit they wouldn’t do CPR

IF someone suffers a cardiac arrest, help has to be given immediately.

That means giving them CPR as soon as possible.

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 A third of UK adults don't know how to perform lifesaving CPR
A third of UK adults don't know how to perform lifesaving CPRCredit: Getty - Contributor

About 90 per cent of people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital die because they're not given the proper assistance the moment it happens.

Yet according to a new study, nearly a third of UK adults (30 per cent) admit they wouldn't perform CPR on someone suffering a cardiac arrest.

Researchers from the University of Warwick Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcome (OHCAO) Registry team worked with YouGov to survey over 4,000 UK adults.

They were asked about their knowledge of CPR and whether they'd feel confident with performing it on someone who had just had a cardiac arrest.

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About 90 per cent of those who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital in the UK dieCredit: Getty - Contributor

The British Heart Foundation, which commissioned the research, says that the shocking figures show that lives are being put at risk every day because not enough people know how to perform CPR.

Today is Restart a Heart Day and to mark it, 200,000 people are being trained in life-saving CPR across the country.

In countries where CPR is taught in schools, as many as one in four survive cardiac arrest - compared to one in ten in the UK.

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Although 96 per cent of those asked said they were likely to call an ambulance if they saw someone had collapsed and had stopped breathing, the time it takes for the emergency services to arrive can mean the difference between life and death.

Brain tissue starts to die within three minutes after the heart stops, due to a lack of oxygen.

Symptoms of cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest isn't the same as heart attack. 

It's when the heart stops beating suddenly and you can die if you don't receive medical assistance within minutes. According to the BHF, 100,000 people are killed by it every year in the UK.

Most of the time, sudden cardiac arrest happens without any warning at all - it comes on so quickly.

Heart attack, on the other hand, is where blood flow to the heart is partially blocked.

If someone is in cardiac arrest:

  • they won't be conscious
  • they won't be responsive
  • they won't be breathing or breathing normally

Heart attacks, however, do come with a number of common signs, including:

  • pressure, pain, or tightness in the chest or arms
  • nausea
  • cold sweat
  • fatigue
  • sudden dizziness

Early CPR can more than double a person’s chances of survival, and can buy the time needed before paramedics arrive and provide care.

Marilyn Smith from Cornwall was extremely lucky to have received vital treatment from a local South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) volunteer when her heart stopped suddenly.

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“It came completely out of the blue," she said.

"I’d been feeling fine and I’d even taken the dogs out for a three-mile walk that day, when I went up to my bathroom and just suddenly collapsed.”

Marilyn’s husband called 999 and their local Community First Responder (CFR), Mike Kinger the local butcher, was sent out to give Marilyn the life-saving defibrillator shock that got her heart beating again.

A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beatingCredit: Getty - Contributor
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Had it not been for Mike - a CFR volunteer for the past 12 years - Marilyn might well not be here today.

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “You may not feel confident performing CPR if you haven’t been trained or you don’t remember your training; but without your early action the chances someone will survive a cardiac arrest are virtually zero.

The 7 simple first aid skills you need to save a life

"It's really important to learn first aid, we are not asking people to make things complicated or become doctors or paramedics," Tracey Taylor, from the British Red Cross told The Sun Online.

"It's about learning a few simple skills so you can act in that situation and know that you have done the best possible thing to help."

So here are the seven scenarios that you need to be equipped with:

1. Bleeding heavily 

The first thing you need to do is apply pressure to the wound in order to stop the bleeding. Use whatever you have to hand - a jumper, towel or blanket. Then call 999 and maintain that pressure until help arrives.

2. Burns

Run the burn under cold water for at least ten minutes. If you can't get to a tap, then use any cold liquid - from milk to fizzy pop. Then loosely wrap some clingfilm or a plastic bag around the burn to reduce pain and prevent infection. Kids and babies who have been burned need immediate medical attention.

3. Falls

Apply an ice pack (a bag of frozen veg will do) to the sprain or strain. If you think something's been broken, then you've got to get to a hospital.

4. Unresponsive but breathing

If someone passes out in front of you, the first thing you've got to do is check to see if they're still breathing.

You can do that by tilting their head back and feeling for breaths.

If they are, then move them onto their side and tilt their head back to open their airways, before calling 999.

5. Choking

Stand behind the person choking and bend them forward before giving them five firm blows between the shoulder blades, known as back blows, to try and dislodge whatever is choking them.

If that doesn't work then you'll need to try the Heimlich manoeuvre.

Place your arms around the choking person from behind, and pull upwards and inwards on the abdomen below the rib cage.

The pressure from this movement can force out whatever is blocking the airway, allowing the patient to breathe again.

If the object doesn't shift, call 999 and continue using back blows and the Heimlich manoeuvre until an ambulance arrives.

6. Suspected heart arrack 

Heart attacks can be life-threatening but they're less deadly than a sudden cardiac arrest. You'll need to call 999 immediately and just try to make the person as comfortable and calm as possible before the ambulance arrives.

"The BHF is striving to improve survival rates by creating a Nation of Lifesavers through our CPR training programmes.

"By raising awareness on Restart a Heart Day, we hope more people will see that CPR really can be the difference between life and death and that doing something is always better than doing nothing.”

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The education secretary, Damian Hinds, said that the government plans to teach first aid as part of health education - which is set to be made a compulsory part of the state curriculum by 2020.

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Joe Mulligan, Head of First Aid Education at the British Red Cross said: “When someone is unresponsive and not breathing it’s a matter of life and death. Without immediate intervention with CPR and a defibrillator, the chances are that person will not survive.

“While it’s normal to feel worried about performing CPR, it’s important to remember that doing something to help is always better than doing nothing.

“First aid will soon be part of the National Curriculum in England, meaning secondary school children will learn this important life lesson which could go a long way to improving public confidence. In the meantime, we would urge everyone to use our free online resources to learn this lifesaving skill.”

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