Arrhythmia Alliance has joined forces with footballer, Fabrice Muamba and Bolton Wanderers Football Club (BWFC) in the Hearts & Goals campaign to tackle the UK’s biggest killer; sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
Every year; 100,000 people die from SCA in the UK. That is more than lung cancer, breast cancer and Aids combined. Administering CPR only saves 5% of lives. This could be increased ten-fold if a defibrillator is also used, increasing chances of survival to 50%.
In March 2012, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch during a televised football game. He was given immediate medical attention with CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED). This helped to save his life.
Hearts & Goals aims to equip every community in the UK with an AED, which could help to prevent thousands of deaths. The initial target is at least 500 public-access AEDs across the nation. These will be placed in external locations so that they can be accessed 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
The AED will be linked to the local accident and emergency service and registered on the AED locator map online, so you could easily search where your nearest defibrillator is. It is straightforward to use with programmed instructions. The equipment is designed to automatically analyse heart rhythms, determine whether defibrillation is appropriate and advise if and when to give a shock.
Moreover, the campaign aims to train 200 First-aiders on CPR and AED training and get 500,000 pulses checked for heart rhythm disorders. Together, we can tackle sudden cardiac death.
If you want to find out more information, please visit heartandgoals.org or email join@heartsandgoals.org to get involved.
