Lack of CPR skills ‘causes 10,000 deaths each year’

IGNORANCE of CPR skills means 10,000 Britons a year die of cardiac arrest, experts have warned.

It follows a study led by Warwick University which suggests one in eight cardiac deaths occurs without anyone trying resuscitation before paramedics arrive.

Almost half of Scots say they would be reluctant to carry out CPR on someone collapsed in the street – because they are too ‘reserved’, a poll found.

Once the heart has stopped, it is crucial that the victim’s blood is kept circulating by CPR – cardiopulmonary resuscitation. But if this is not done, by the time professional medical help arrives, it may be too late to save the patient.

The Warwick researchers, writing in the Resuscitation medical journal, said: ‘When cardiac arrest occurs there is sudden cessation of circulation to the brain and other vital organs. Irreversible death will occur within minutes unless circulation is restored.’

However, a study for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found 43 per cent of Scots surveyed said they were unlikely to perform the life-saving technique because of ‘reserved British attitudes’.

The heart charity’s research also revealed that of the 3,500 cardiac arrest cases in Scotland every year affecting people not in hospital, just one in 20 survives.

Chris Allen, senior cardiac nurse at the BHF, said its study ‘indicates that a fear of drawing attention to yourself, or being seen to make more of a fuss than is necessary, could be putting people off intervening in an emergency situation’.

He added: ‘We want to ensure that every single person in the UK has the skills and confidence to know what to do and we must change cultural attitudes so that intervening becomes the norm. This is the only way we can avoid lives being needlessly lost.’

The BHF survey, of 369 adults in Scotland, also found 57 per cent were unsure what to do if someone suffered a cardiac arrest. A total of 44 per cent said they would be reluctant to perform CPR – chest compressions and carrying out the ‘kiss of life’ – due to fear of causing more harm than good.

The Warwick University researchers analysed 11,451 cases of cardiac arrest attended by paramedics.

In 13.1 per cent of case the emergency team could do nothing because too much time had passed since the arrest and nobody had attempted CPR.

Lead researcher Professor Gavin Perkins said: ‘This study shows that thousands of people are dying because it is too late for them to be saved when the emergency services arrive, and this is associated with low bystander intervention.’

Fewer than one in ten people survives cardiac arrest in Britain.

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the BHF, said: ‘Survival rates in the UK have remained stubbornly low for far too long.’ Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping blood due to its electrical activity becoming disturbed.

The BHF released its findings to coincide with Restart a Heart Day today. This will see more than 100,000 people learn CPR, helping help the charity reach a total of one million lifesavers trained in CPR, across the UK, by April 2017.

Sue Killen, chief executive officer at first aid charity St John Ambulance, said: ‘There is overwhelming evidence that more lives could be saved if more people knew CPR.’