Over 30,000 people a year suffer a cardiac arrest in England, which is when someone’s heart stops beating.
You only have minutes to do something about it before they will start suffering permanent brain damage. If nothing is done, the chance of that person surviving decreases by 10% for every minute that passes. In the North East, the rate of survival following a cardiac arrest is currently less than 8%. In other countries, this figure is between 50-70%. The difference comes from early recognition of the situation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) being delivered by someone, and early defibrillation – the first three links in the Chain of Survival. A defibrillator will deliver a shock to a person, but only if their heart needs it, and they can be used by practically anyone – you do not need to be trained.
Whilst there is an increasing number of defibrillators that are available to the public in the North East, North East Ambulance Service charitable Trust Fund want to encourage more communities to install one, and understand how to use it. So they are offering help to certain communities that may be thinking about purchasing a public access defibrillator.
£500 towards the cost of a defibrillator and external cabinet in which to house it is available to communities and organisations in postcodes across the region that have been identified as having the greatest need according to health and demographic data.
The subsidised package also includes a familiarisation session for the community to learn how to carry out potentially life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and how to access and use a defibrillator.
Further details and a list of the eligible areas can be found HERE.