Restart A Heart: Training Locals To Save Lives

Tuesday, 11 October 2022 at 11:59

Islanders can attend free sessions this week to learn CPR and how to use defibrillators.

Restart a Heart is a global initiative which aims to increase public awareness of cardiac arrests and train life-saving skills.

In Guernsey, The Cardiac Action Group is hosting multiple daily training sessions.

CPR and Automated External Defibrillator use will be taught until October 16, at Community Centres, Douzaine Rooms and sporting venues across the island.

The charity has installed 120 Public Access Defibrillators in Guernsey and trained over 4,000 people so far.

Community Resuscitation Development Officer, Mike Froome says this training is crucial, as anyone can have a cardiac arrest:

"It's a very sudden thing and it doesn't matter how healthy you are, we've had some very fit people have cardiac arrests, cycling around the island and collapsing on their push bikes.

You can never tell, whatever you're doing at the time you'll suddenly become unconscious."

He says he hopes the sessions will allow more people to react quickly and confidently:

We're aiming to teach as many people as we can how to perform life-saving CPR, use a defibrillator and manage unconscious patients who happen to be breathing.

If you can get a defibrillator on their chest within 3 minutes they've got a maybe an 80% chance, and that's quite a big survival rate."

See the training sessions dates, times and locations on the Cardiac Action Group's Facebook page, and email info@cag.org.gg to book.