Guest Blog – First Aid Training
Our guest blog writer this week is Mike Taylor from Abacus First Training. We asked him to write a blog on the need for defibs and cabinets in community areas such as sports centres and workplaces, and he happily obliged!
Cardiac arrest in the workplace
Cardiac Arrest victims are around 50% more likely to survive if a defibrillator is available to treat them compared to about 5% without it. Yet less than half of workplaces and only a small percentage of sports clubs have the vital equipment to deal with a cardiac arrest.
I have worked with Newcastle (Staffs) Athletics Club recently to install a defibrillator at their Ashfields New Road headquarters. The defibrillator was purchased following the death of longstanding club member from a cardiac arrest, sustained while on a training session with fellow runners. We supplied the training on using the defib to volunteer members of the club once it was fitted.
Essential kit for the sporting sector
The fitting of a defibrillator is a lasting legacy to Steve and could help save lives if other runners suffer cardiac problems. There are no rules in place for sports clubs on defibrillators, whether they have the equipment on site is purely voluntary. As a first aid trainer, I would class defibrillators as essential kit in the sporting sector, but in many cases, it is only the large gym chains that have them.
Cardiac arrest statistics
The statistics are stark. There are around 60,000 cardiac arrests outside of hospital each year in the UK and the UK Resuscitation Council says defibrillators should be available where ever treatment is more than five minutes away. If you have a cardiac arrest outside of hospital and with no trained first aiders about, your chances of survival are just 6%. This rises to 60% where a defibrillator is available within about 3 minutes. Yet a survey by IOSH (the Institute of Occupational Health) recently revealed that less than half of UK workplaces had a defibrillator.
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