For the first time, Jersey will take part in European Restart a Heart Day, an annual initiative which aims to increase the low number of people who survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
- First, check that the person is not breathing and that they are in need of resuscitation. Also, make sure that someone has called the emergency services
- Apply compression to the chest to try to kick-start the heart into beating. This is done by placing your hands on top of each other on the nipple line, on top of the sternum, and repeatedly pushing down about six cm with the base of your bottom hand
- The pace should be at the same rhythm as Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees, or between 100 and 120 compressions per minute
- After 30 compressions, give the casualty ventilation by breathing into their mouth. This is done by lifting their chin with two fingers to open the airway, pinching their nose and then blowing twice into their mouth
- Resume the compressions, alternating every 30 pumps with two more breaths.
- If a defibrillator is available, switch it on and follow its instructions
- A defibrillator is used in conjunction with CPR to first shock the heart out of its chaotic rhythm and to restore a natural heartbeat[/breakout]
Events are due to be held in several European countries and, on Friday, staff from the Ambulance Service will teach Islanders how to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use an automated external defibrillator at a demonstration in King Street.
Janet Davison, training officer for the service, said: ‘We want members of the public to come and have a go to see that it is not difficult.
‘People are frightened of these skills. We can’t emphasise enough that you don’t need to be afraid – the only thing you can do wrong is to walk past and do nothing.
‘Starting CPR buys those vital few minutes for us to get there. If you’ve called 999, our operators will talk you through what to do.
‘Without oxygen the brain starts to die after three minutes and heart muscle starts to die after eight minutes.’
Last year paramedics in Jersey transported 37 people who were in cardiac arrest to the Hospital.
Jason Hamon, operations manager, said that in many cases when paramedics arrive at the scene, the casualty will not be receiving chest compressions because people do not feel confident enough to perform the technique.
He said: ‘We do appreciate that we’ve seen hundreds of them and this is probably the first time for them. It is a scary thing.
‘We hope that if we teach lots and lots of people then it will just “click” if they come across someone in cardiac arrest and they will know what to do. The chances of that person surviving then really go up.’
The Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance will be in King Street between Hamons and Jack Wills from 10 am until 4 pm on Friday.
A RUNNER whose heart suddenly stopped beating says she owes her life to her boyfriend, who gave her CPR.
Sam Horsfall, who has the same life-threatening condition which caused the heart of former professional footballer Fabrice Muamba heart to stop for 78 minutes, says she wants to raise awareness about the condition and the importance of learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The airport firefighter from St Brelade, who was having a day off from her training for the Marathon des Sables – a 156-mile race through the Sahara – was watching TV when boyfriend James Harrison noticed something was wrong.
‘She said: “I feel really dizzy”,’ Mr Harrison, a 42-year-old Airport firefighter said. ‘She started to really struggle to breathe. In that split second I thought she was messing around.
‘Her breathing got really laboured. I was asking her what was wrong.
‘She started to slump to the floor. It was quite frightening. I phoned 999 and put it on speaker phone. I laid her on the floor. They came on the line. I asked for the ambulance.
‘In that time her breathing got worse. She stopped breathing. ‘She struggled for her last breath. All the air came out of her. I felt for a pulse. There was no pulse. I opened her eyes. ‘There was no change in her pupils.
‘The ambulance came on the line. I told them she had stopped breathing. They said “Start CPR”.
‘I started CPR and then all of a sudden she took a massive breath and just jumped up.’
Miss Horsfall said when she regained consciousness she did not realise the severity of her condition, even when paramedics arrived at the house.
‘James still had the ambulance on speakerphone,’ Miss Horsfall said. ‘He said: “You stopped breathing”. I said: “Don’t be ridiculous”.
‘It took a bit of coaxing to get me to the hospital. I’ve never been ill before. I was in A&E for four hours. They did so many tests. I felt so dizzy and sick and really, really tired.’
Medics decided to keep Miss Horsfall in overnight to monitor her heart. ‘I remembered lying there thinking I must get some sleep, then all of a sudden the dizziness came back,’
Miss Horsfall said. ‘I could feel my heart pounding like never before. Really hard and really fast. It lasted 30 seconds.
‘In the morning the doctor said the heart monitor had shown that my heart had pumped over 300 beats a minute. My resting heartbeat is usually 35 beats.’
Following her life-threatening ordeal on 6February, Miss Horsfall was transferred to the high-dependency unit before being transferred by air ambulance to the John Radcliffe Heart Centre in Oxford, where she was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia, a condition that arises from improper electrical activity of the heart presenting as a rapid heart rhythm.
She underwent an operation to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator fitted which delivers an electric shock to restore a normal heartbeat if her heart begins to beat irregularly.
Despite having to pull out of the Marathon des Sables, ten days after the device was fitted Miss Horsfall was able to start running again.
She now hopes to take part in the Mont SaintMichel marathon on 31 May and an Ironman competition in Barcelona in October.
And she said it was because of her boyfriend’s work-related training in CPR that she was alive today.
