At sporting events, on your golf course, in the club house, in the office and at social events, the risk of cardiac arrest is very real.
As a Duty of Care most sporting venues should now have AED’s (Automatic External Defibrillators) on site in order to provide the best care for any incidence of sudden cardiac arrest that may occur on site. It is vital
D
id you know that 140,000 people die from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) each year in the UK; it is the world’s biggest killer and can happen
to anyone, anywhere and at anytime. In the past a victim has had to rely on an ambulance crew to attend, but this severely reduces the chances of survival for the victim. Only 5% of SCA victims survive outside of a hospital, often whilst waiting for an ambulance to arrive. SCA causes the heart’s normal rhythm to suddenly become chaotic, where the heart is no longer able to pump blood effectively. The victim then collapses, stops breathing, becomes unresponsive, and has no detectable pulse. SCA can strike anyone and at anytime. Although the risk of SCA increases with age and in people with heart problems, a large percentage of the victims are people with no known risk factor. SCA is an electrical problem with the
heart and should not be confused with a heart attack, which is a pumping problem. Sometimes a heart attack, which may not be fatal in itself, can then trigger a sudden cardiac arrest. The only proven way to treat SCA is by delivering an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. This is called defibrillation and can make the difference between saving a life and having a victim die.
Every minute that the heart is not beating lowers the odds of survival by 10%. However, if a victim receives defibrillation within three minutes the chances of survival are increased by 70%. After ten minutes, the chances of survival are negligible. CPR can buy a little time but ultimately SCA requires a shock to restore a normal heart rhythm. With an AED (Automatic External Defibrillators) on site, defibrillation can take place within three minutes and, on average, the chances of survival are
drastically increased to 70%. Ambulances have a target to arrive within eight minutes, reducing the victim’s chances to very low levels but, with workloads and modern traffic problems, this response time is often much greater. Ambulance Authorities actually recommend and promote the deployment of AED’s in public areas and the workplace in order to drastically increase survival rates. With AED’s located in workplaces, life saving care can be delivered almost immediately. Studies in the USA have shown survival rates in places such as shopping malls and airports increased from less than 5% to over 70%. According to Martek, a leading manufacturer of AEDs, businesses often invest in the equipment after they have had an SCA incident occur, as they then realise how very real the threat is. Sports clubs not only provide services to their countless customers, they also
BIGGEST KILLER? Are you ready for the world’s
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