Cantabs members have recently had opportunities to learn life-saving skills thanks to staff and volunteers from the East of England Ambulance Service who have run training sessions focused on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills and the use of defibrillators.
Even fit and healthy-looking rowers can experience cardiac issues, so the club is pleased that many of our members have taken up the opportunity offered by these sessions to learn life-saving skills, especially with a long-term club member and Community First Responder, Gary O'Shea, helping to deliver the training.
Cantabs members were very enthusiastic about the sessions:
- "Invaluable information"
- "Gary and his colleagues were brilliant"
- "Fun and enlightening"
- "A very well run and insightful course"
There are over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year where resuscitation of a patient is attempted. Fewer than one in ten people currently survive. However, if a defibrillator is used alongside effective CPR within the first 3-5 minutes, the chances of survival can increase to between 40% – 70%. This shows the impact people can have by knowing how to perform CPR and starting it before the ambulance service arrives, and the benefits of access to defibrillators, such as the ones in many Cambridge boathouses.