Friday 16th October 2015 is European Restart a Heart Day. This initiative led by the European Resuscitation Council is designed to increase public awareness of how to help save the life of someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest.
Every year, over 3,500 people around Scotland are treated by the Ambulance Service after having an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), almost one per day in the City of Edinburgh alone. Unfortunately only around 1 in 20 people in Scotland will survive their OHCA.
The good news is that bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed by non-medical personnel can keep blood pumping until the arrival of the Ambulance Service, and will more than double chances of recovery. In centres around the world with high rates of bystander CPR, survival after OHCA can be as high as 22%, meaning that almost 1 in 4 of all people with OHCA resuscitated by bystanders and emergency services will get home from hospital. Despite this, bystander CPR is currently delivered to only around half of the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims in Scotland.
This year on Restart a Heart Day we will launch ‘Save a life for Scotland’. The aim is straightforward – to save lives after OHCA in Scotland by increasing bystander CPR. Tweet us at @SaveALifeScot and you can follow us on Facebook – Save a Life Scotland.
Please join us to see what it’s all about on 16th October outside the National Gallery on Princes Street from 9.45am – 4pm.