Heart Starters Campaign calls on more training in CPR
The London Ambulance Charity’s ‘London Heart Starters’ campaign is raising money to improve access to defibrillators in local communities and help train more people in life-saving chest compressions (CPR). Both these things can make a crucial difference when someone’s heart stops beating.
Olivia Christofides sprang into action to perform vital chest compressions on Geraldo Folie, 60, when he collapsed at home in Kingsbury, Brent, and his heart stopped beating in March last year.
Swiftly dialling 999, Olivia, then 18, drew on her first aid training from her time in the Scouts while a London Ambulance Service call handler provided additional guidance and reassurance over the phone as she performed chest compressions, hard and fast in the centre of the chest, until paramedics arrived.
“I was really scared but I had to think quickly and calmly about what I needed to do in that moment to save his life,” Olivia, who plays academy level in football and basketball, said. “I was fortunate enough to have learned CPR skills while I was at Scouts. Families really need access to defibrillators in the neighbourhoods where they live and know how to do chest compressions so they can help the people they love if the unthinkable happens. I’d urge anyone to support us and other families whose lives have been affected by cardiac arrests by signing up to the London Life Hike to fundraise for more defibrillators where people live.”
Analysis by the London Ambulance Service has revealed that dozens of neighbourhoods are ‘defibrillator deserts’ – where there is little or no access to a life saving device.
The data has revealed large discrepancies between communities in outcomes for cardiac arrest and the availability of life-saving devices. Households in more deprived areas are more likely to be in an area in greater need of additional defibrillators.
Find out how you can have a fun day out while raising money for the life-saving Heart Starters campaign on our dedicated London Life Hike page.
