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World Restart a Heart Day

Bystander CPR saves lives

World Restart a Heart Day is a global awareness day aimed at increasing bystander CPR. From school children learning to save the life of a loved one, to healthcare providers refreshing their CPR skills, CPR training events are happening around the world today.

World Restart a Heart Day is the initiative of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and the European Resuscitation Council.

Would you know what to do if someone´s heart suddenly stopped?

Every minute counts

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Every five seconds, SCA claims a life leading to more than 6 million deaths every year. The vast majority of cardiac arrests happen in the home and almost 40% of these are witnessed by a bystander.

After 1 minute, brain cells without oxygen begin to die. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) response times can average 7–12 minutes, or even longer. The ability of bystanders to perform CPR while waiting for the ambulance is critical to survival and positive patient outcomes.

1 out of 20 people will witness a cardiac arrest in their lifetime. 

70% of cardiac arrests happen at home.

For every minute without CPR and defibrillation, a victim’s chance of survival decreases by 7-10%.

Survival rates are 3x better when bystander CPR and defibrillation are given.

References

Gräsner, Jan-Thorsten et al. (2016). EuReCa ONE 27 Nations, ONE Europe, ONE Registry: A prospective one month analysis of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes in 27 countries in Europe. Resuscitation, Volume 109, Pages 188-195. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300957216300995

Berdowski, Jocelyn et al. (2010). Global incidences of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and survival rates: Systematic review of 67 prospective studies. Resuscitation, Volume 81, Pages 1479-1487. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0300957210004326

Creating communities of lifesavers

It is essential for people in the community to act. The solution is widespread training of CPR throughout communities. Early recognition of a beginning cardiac arrest and knowing what to do next can dramatically improve patient outcomes and survival.

Initiatives to train large numbers of community bystanders through schools or voluntary organisations have been successful in many countries including the United States, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, Korea, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.

Alex is alive today because of community lifesavers

Alex learned CPR at school as part of the British Heart Foundations Nation of Lifesavers campaign.

Several months later he collapsed, and CPR was performed on him in the school gym. The teachers' and staffs' fast actions and knowledge helped save his life.

Increasing survival rates around the world

Laerdal, together with valued partners, works as a catalyst to help our customers implement programs that work. From America to Australia, from Denmark to Korea, the results speak for themselves.

A Nation of Lifesavers

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have worked with Laerdal to implement wide-reaching programs to train school children and lay people in their communities. In the United States, more than 2 million school children are trained in CPR every year.

Survival tripled in Denmark

Denmark is one of several countries that have launched a national initiative to teach CPR. The program introduced mandatory training for elementary school students and those applying for driver’s licenses. Instructional training kits were distributed, dispatcher-assisted guidance was offered, and AEDs were installed in public places.

EMS is important to increase survival. However, the lesson learned recently is that the key to survival is engagement of the community.

Freddy Lippert, M.D., Assistant Professor University of Copenhagen
Freddy Lippert, M.D., Assistant Professor University of Copenhagen

How Laerdal can help

Community initiatives to increase CPR training as well as improve the quality of CPR delivered are critical to increasing survival. By implementing widespread programs to train CPR and providing frequent, high quality training that is systematically measured to guide performance, we can help save more lives, together.