MOST PEOPLE who suffer sudden cardiac arrest will die because bystanders do not know simple resuscitation techniques that would help them to stay alive, according to research.
A public awareness campaign aimed at showing the public how to respond when someone collapses as a result of sudden cardiac arrest began yesterday.
The Citizen CPR campaign shows how easy it is to perform compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), instead of giving mouth-to-mouth.
Opening the campaign, Dr Pixie McKenna, the Cork-born presenter of Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies show, said everyone should know how to resuscitate somebody. “Sudden cardiac arrest does not respect age, class or creed, and it strikes where it likes . . . This is why it is absolutely vital that every citizen is both competent and confident in CPR.”
More than 5,000 fatalities occur every year in Ireland as a result of sudden cardiac arrest. On average, 14 people will experience sudden cardiac arrest each day, of which only one will survive.
When an adult has a sudden cardiac arrest, their survival depends on them immediately receiving CPR. From the moment of collapse the chances of someone staying alive decreases by 7-10 per cent per minute if CPR is not performed.
Research shows most people are afraid of doing CPR due to a lack of knowledge and for fear they will cause further injury.
A roadshow is to be held at 40 locations across the country aimed at demonstrating three simple steps if someone collapses. These are: to check whether the person is unresponsive and not breathing, to get someone to call 999, and to start compressions by pushing hard and fast in the centre of the person’s chest until help arrives.
