Defibrillator Information

INSTALLATION OF PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATOR                                 

REASONS FOR INSTALLING A PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATOR

• The community response to cardiac arrest is critical to saving lives.
• Each year the UK ambulance services respond to approximately 60,000 cases of suspected cardiac arrest. Approximately half of those out of hospital cardiac arrests are witnessed. Resuscitation is attempted by the ambulance service in just under half of these cases (28,000). The main reasons there is no attempt at resuscitation of the remainder are that they have not been witnessed and either the victim has been dead for several hours or has not received bystander CPR so by the time the emergency services arrive the person has died.
• Even when resuscitation is attempted, less than one in ten victims survive to go home from hospital.
• Strengthening the community response to cardiac arrest by training and empowering more bystanders to perform CPR and by increasing the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at least doubles the chances of survival.
•  In locations where there is ready access to community defibrillators, such as Seattle in the US, and parts of Scandanavia, the survival rates can be as high as 50%.
• 13% of workplace fatalities are a result of sudden cardiac arrest.
• Defibrillation within 3 – 5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50 – 70%. This can be achieved through public access defibrillation, when a bystander uses a nearby AED to deliver the first shock.
• Each minute of delay to defibrillation reduces the probability of survival to hospital discharge by 8 -10%.
• In the UK, fewer than 2% of victims have an AED deployed before the ambulance arrives. This is despite the required response time by the Ambulance Service to a suspected cardiac arrest being 8 minutes.
• Cardiac arrests can occur to both genders and all ages, including fit and healthy young people. For example, 12 young people per week die from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome – as suffered by the Bolton player Fabrice Muamba. He had immediate CPR and the repeated use of a Defibrillator and survived.
• To improve survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the Resuscitation Council (UK) recommends a series of measures including ‘Defibrillators being available in places where there are large numbers of people (eg airports, railway stations, shopping centres, sports stadiums) increased risk of cardiac arrest (eg gyms, sports facilities) or where access to emergency services can be delayed.’

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IN THE EVENT OF A SUSPECTED CARDIAC ARREST?

The Chain of Survival describes four key, inter-related steps, which if delivered effectively and in sequence, optimise survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

1. Early recognition and call for help

If untreated, cardiac arrest occurs in a quarter to a third of patients with myocardial ischaemia (heart attack) within the first hour after onset of chest pain.

Once cardiac arrest has occurred, early recognition is critical to enable rapid activation of the ambulance service and prompt initiation of bystander CPR.

2. Early Bystander CPR

The immediate initiation of bystander CPR can double or quadruple survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Despite this compelling evidence, only 40% of victims receive bystander CPR in the UK.

3. Early Defibrillation

Defibrillation within 3 – 5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50 – 70%. This can be achieved through public access defibrillation, when a bystander uses a nearby AED to deliver the first shock. Each minute of delay to defibrillation reduces the probability of survival to hospital discharge by 10%. In the UK, fewer than 2% of victims have an AED deployed before the ambulance arrives.

4. Early advanced life support

Advanced life support with airway management, drugs and the correction of causal factors may be needed if initial attempts at resuscitation are unsuccessful. This and other post resuscitation care will be undertaken by the Ambulance Service and hospital cardiac specialists.

BASIC LIFE SUPPORT AND USE OF DEFIBRILLATOR

Basic life support is designed to keep oxygenated blood circulating to vital organs in the body.  It relies on simple measure without the need to use complicated equipment.  If you come across a person who has collapsed call for help immediately, or get someone else to do it for you.  Tell them to come back to tell you that it is done.  If there is a defibrillator on site, get someone to fetch it as soon as possible, or if alone fetch it yourself.

The pneumonic to help you is DRSABC.

1. D is for DANGER. This is to you, the patient and anyone else who comes to help you. Do not put anyone in danger.  If in doubt, do NOT enter the scene.  Call for help.
2. R is for RESPONSE.  If the patient is apparently unconscious ask loudly “Are you alright?” and shake their shoulders.  Do this closely to their ears (both).  They may be deaf!
3. S is for SHOUT FOR HELP. If you are alone shout for help or get someone to call the Ambulance Service.  Get them to come back and tell you they have done it.
4. A is for AIRWAY.  Check to see if the patient is breathing and look in their mouth for any obvious obstruction to the airway.  Open the airway using a head tilt and chin lift technique.  Carefully remove any obvious blockage to the airway.  If false teeth are loose remove them otherwise leave them in place.
5. B is for BREATHING.  After opening the airway put your face close to the  patient’s mouth and listen for breathing, and try to find breathing on your cheek.  Look along the chest to see if it rises and falls.  Do this for no longer 10 seconds.  If no sign of breathing it must be assumed the patient is in Cardiac Arrest.
6. C is for CIRCULATION. Start chest compression immediately in the centre of the chest.  This should be between the nipples or in the bottom third of the sternum.  Press down 5 to 6 centimetres at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions a minute.  It is better to press too hard than not hard enough.  Do not stop the chest compressions unless told to by a doctor or healthcare professional, the scene becomes dangerous, the patient shows signs of recovery,, the defibrillator is analysing the heart rhythm or giving a shock, the Ambulance Service arrive and instruct to stop or you become exhausted.
7. If the Defibrillator is on the scene, and the patient is unconscious put the pads on immediately, even if the patient is breathing.  Do not switch the Defribrillator on at this time.  If the patient stops breathing switch on the Defibrillator and start chest compressions and follow the instructions from the Defibrillator.

Press Release on Installation of Defibrillator

A new AED Public Access Defibrillator has been installed in the village thanks to the efforts of the local Bowls Club.

Shepshed Town Bowls Club has raised the monies for the vital life-saving equipment which is mounted on the outside wall of their Clubhouse in Charnwood Road, opposite Asda.

It also gained funding for the project from Shepshed Lions, Shepshed Rotary Club and local charity The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT) which kindly provided the external defibrillator cabinet so that the unit could be installed in the location that will be public-accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

In the event of a cardiac emergency, anyone can call 999 and ask the EMAS call handlers to help them access the defibrillator. They will be given the location of the defibrillator and the call handler will talk the person through the process which the defibrillator also does.

To help Club Members familiarise themselves with the equipment, training has also been provided in both CPR and the Defibrillator operation. Training was kindly provided by Shepshed Lions First Responders and saw 12 Club Members trained with further sessions planned for 2018.

John Carrington, Men’s Secretary at the Bowls Club, said: “Our sport tends to attract the more mature participants and we were concerned to discover that the nearest defibrillator to us was almost 500 metres away. So, in April of this year, we decided to raise money for our own defibrillator, which we wanted to be accessible to the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We agreed that the unit would be installed on the outside of our clubhouse and it’s great to have it now in place and operational. We’re very grateful to all of the charities and community organisations that have supported us in getting our members trained  and getting this vital piece of equipment in place where it can benefit the whole community.”

Charles Poole from JHMT, who helped organise the supply and delivery of the external cabinet said: “This is another example of local people getting together, identifying an urgent need for life-saving equipment in their community and working in partnership to make easy access to defibrillators a reality. We congratulate Shepshed Town Bowls Club on their fantastic efforts to raise funds for this project and we’re delighted to provide the cabinet so that, if someone has a cardiac arrest in the area, the emergency 999 call to East Midlands Ambulance Service will give those on hand swift access to the defibrillator.”

Once again, many thanks to Shepshed Lions, Shepshed Rotary Club, The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT) and members and friends of Shepshed Town Bowls Club.