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Pictured are the words Heart 2 Heart on a pink back ground with a heart icon.

31 Jan 2018

Loughborough University and the British Heart Foundation partner for Valentine’s Day event that aims to increase cardiac arrest survival rates

Loughborough University, Loughborough Students’ Union and the British Heart Foundation are joining forces on the most heart-themed day of the year to try and increase cardiac arrest survival rates.

More than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests take place in the UK each year yet less than 1 in 10 people survive in England and shockingly that figure drops to 1 in 18 in the East Midlands.

Those who suffer a cardiac arrest have almost zero chance of surviving if no one attempts CPR yet less than half of adults in England feel able to intervene when they witness someone collapse – partly due to lack of confidence and training.

This Valentine's Day (Wednesday 14 February), there will be multiple ‘pods’ across the Loughborough campus in which staff and students can learn CPR or refresh their existing skills and knowledge.

The ‘Heart 2 Heart’ event aims to provide training to 1,300 people over 12 hours and raise awareness of the vital work of the British Heart Foundation in a bid to bring the East Midlands’ cardiac arrest survival rate in line with the national average.

Training sessions will run in the pods from 8am to 8pm. They will each last approximately 30 minutes and entail watching a short instructional film before being given an opportunity to practice CPR on a mannequin. There will also be designated sessions taking place that focus on performing the life-saving technique on infants.

The pods will run as follows:

Pods that run every hour, on the hour

Pods that run every hour, on the half hour

Room One (Loughborough Students’ Union)

Council Chamber (Hazlerigg Building)

Library

Butler Common Room

Village Bar

New Victory Hall (final session at 4.30pm)

West Park Teaching Hub (from 5.30pm)

 

Members of staff can ask to be formally released by their line managers to take part in a training session and count it towards their continuous professional development (CPD). Staff are advised to plan ahead as lunchtime hours are expected to be busy.

On the day of the event, students should register upon arrival to earn points towards the Hall of the Year competition.

Andy Stephens, the Director of Finance for the University, volunteers as a Community First Responder with East Midlands Ambulance Service.

He commented: “I’m called a First Responder but in a cardiac arrest situation really the first responder is the bystander, the person who sees it happen. The worst thing you can do is do nothing. It’s certainly a sad fact that people do die as a result of lack of confidence or lack of knowledge.

“Heart 2 Heart is a wonderful opportunity to train as many people as possible to be aware of how to recognise cardiac arrest and deal with it. CPR is a very basic skill and knowing what to do in the vital first minutes before help starts to arrive is what will save a life.”

Staff volunteers are needed to help ensure the smooth running of CPR sessions at each station. Currently, the event organisers are looking for:

  • 8am-12pm – four volunteers
  • 12pm-4pm – six volunteers
  • 4pm-8pm – five volunteers

Roles on the day will involve helping staff and students register for sessions, logging staff and student details to help track participation and making sure everyone leaves with a certificate/further information on defibrillator locations across campus.

If you can help, please email wp@lboro.ac.uk with your availability.

For further information on the event visit the dedicated Heart 2 Heart webpage and help us promote the event on social media by joining the Thunderclap.