Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Defibrillators

Do you know where your nearest Public Access Defibrillator is?

Do you know why defibrillators are so important?

Would you know what to do if someone collapsed?

The Tideswell and Hope Valley Community First Responder group provide awareness sessions to the public to help you answer some of the questions above. If you would be interested in learning more about basic life support and defibrillators please email us on TCFRteam@hotmail.com or thvcfrteam@outlook.com As well as awareness sessions the CFR team also regularly check 5 of the community defibrillators in Tideswell and some in the surrounding villages. These checks ensure the defibrillators are ready if an emergency occurs. You can search for your nearest defibrillator here https://www.defibfinder.uk/

Why is CPR and defibrillators so important?

Approximately 80% of out of hospital cardiac arrests happen in the home so by learning CPR, you are gaining skills that could save the life of a family member or friend. The other 20% will occur in public or work places. The NHS Ambulance Services attempt resuscitation on approximately 30,000 people each year in the UK.

With every minute without CPR the chance of survival reduces by 10%. Brain damage begins after only 4 minutes without oxygen, and death can occur as soon as 8 minutes. Doing CPR buys time until a defibrillator and medical help arrives.

There are a number of different reasons why someone has a cardiac arrest. Not all heart rhythms are able to be treated by the defibrillator but for some rhythms defibrillation can be very successful. It has been reported that the initial rhythm is treatable by a defibrillator in approximately 1 in 4 out of hospital cardiac arrests. However Public access defibrillator use is reported as being used in less than 1 in 10 out of hospital cardiac arrests.

A defibrillator is a battery operated medical device that can deliver an electrical current through the heart using pads attached to the chest. It aims to stop the abnormal electrical activity causing the collapse and therefore allowing the hearts own pacemaker and rhythm to take over and getting the heart muscle to pump again. The technology gives voice and visual prompts to the rescuer and will only allow a shock to be delivered if the person is in a ‘shockable’ rhythm. They are designed to be used by untrained people but having some training and knowledge can really help in an emergency situation.

Would you know what to do if some-one collapsed?

To find out more you can book an awareness session with us or the British Heart Foundation have a free, 15 minute online training. https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr/learn-cpr-in-15-minutes To respond to a collapsed person we use DRS ABCD. This acronym stands for Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR and Defibrillation.

Below is a very brief summary and guide only;

Danger – check the area that it is safe to approach.

Response– Shout and give a shake of the shoulders to see if the person is awake.

Send for help – If the person is unrousable then shout for help, call for an ambulance via 999 and get someone to get a defibrillator. Put a phone on hands free or loud speaker to enable the ambulance call centre staff to talk you through what to do.

Airway and Breathing– The airway is then checked to see if it is open and whether the patient is breathing. There needs to be 2 normal breaths in 10 seconds.

CPR -If the person has no normal breaths and is unrousable then chest compressions should be started (with the heel of your hands in the centre of the chest between the nipples place the heel of the other hand on top and interlace the fingers, position yourself vertically above the centre of the chest pressing down with straight arms about 5-6cm at a rate of 100-120bpm).

Defibrillator – a defibrillator should be attached while compressions continue and follow all voice prompts and instructions.

Even before the pandemic there was a move to compression only CPR as it is effective. It was felt that people may be put off doing something if they had to do rescue breaths, so compressions on their own is much better than not doing anything. Good, effective and continuous cardiac compressions are vital. Rescue breathes can be used if it is some-one you know at a ratio of 30 compressions to 2 breaths.

This is the chain of survival which is the sequence of events that have to happen quickly to increase the chance of someone surviving a sudden cardiac arrest.

Public access defibrillators are a link in this chain and definitely save lives.

Please contact us if you want more information or to attend an awareness session. TCFRteam@hotmail.com or thvcfrteam@outlook.com Cathy Spingys group co-ordinator References from https://www.resus.org.uk/ and https://www.bhf.org.uk/