Restart a Heart Day: Staff are increasing awareness and access to defibrillators
Staff at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) have introduced a visual way to raise awareness of defibrillators in the community in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.
Children and young people ’s Emergency Department Nurse Practitioner Marijke van Eerd and Consultant in Paediatric Critical Care Dr Patrick Davies introduced Project Three Minutes , a defibrillator localising flag, to make defibrillators more visible in the community.
Whilst many sports clubs and community centres now have a defibrillator on site, there is currently no recognised national signage of the precise location.
The project uses a large orange flag to clearly identify the exact location of a defibrillator. The flags can be used by any organisation and saves vital, lifesaving, seconds in a time of need .
Marijke said: “Lots of sports clubs have defibrillators that they take to away - games, so you might have eight pitches of kids playing football and there might be a defibrillator in one of the coach's bags, but no one will know that other than the coach. These portable defibrillators will not be registered on the national database used by East Midlands Ambulance Service ( EMAS ), so when calling 999 they would not be mentioned.
“What we want is for those defibrillators to be placed somewhere with the flag, so everyone knows there is a defibrillator there if it’s needed.
“ Nottingham Council have been allocated £ 1 million to be used for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and defibrillators in the community and they are happy to put funding towards the cost of the flags. And we're going out to as many sports clubs as possible promoting the flag to increase those who use it and hopefully the time from collapse to defibrillator improves in sports.”
Sports clubs such as the West Bridgford Colts FC, Cliftonettes Netball Club and Hinckley running club in Leicester are now using the flag.
Patrick said: “This project all came about after being involved in the treatment of multiple cases of young people collapsing with sudden cardiac arrest and it’s really made us think about how people often know that there is a defibrillator, but they don't actually know where exactly it is or who would use it. This leads to a delay in utilisation of defibrillators.
“We want people to know where defibrillators are in the community and how to use them. It’s such an important message and topic, as it can save lives. E specially in sport , we want people to know how to do CPR and to feel empowered to use an automatic defibrillator. So far this year, Marijke has trained nearly 500 people in the community, with a focus on sports coaches.
“It’s why awareness days such as World Restart a Heart Day and Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) week are so important, as it gets people talking about these hugely important topics and could lead to someone being e mpowered to use a defibrillator if the situation occurred.
“We want it to be standard practice for people to ask where defibrillators are when they attend meetings, go to events or are involved in sports. Asking the question will make you more aware.”
Restart a Heart Day takes place every year on the 16 th of October and aims to raise awareness about CPR and the importance of knowing how to restart a heart that has stopped beating.
Marijke added: “Every week 12 people under 35 die from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, so they have a sudden cardiac arrest. The quicker you can get a defibrillator to someone who has had a sudden cardiac arrest, the more chance they have at surviving because with every minute their chance of survival from a defibrillator drops by 10%.
“If somebody has had a cardiac arrest, their heart has stopped, which means they have died. It is important to know that you can’t make this situation worse or do the wrong thing. By starting CPR and getting the nearest defibrillator as quickly as possible you can give them a chance to survive . So, our quest in life is to make people more aware of where the nearest defibrillators are and make them want to know where they are.”