18 August 2011
More Londoners than ever are surviving a cardiac arrest,
but bystanders are only performing simple lifesaving skills in just
over a third of cases.
A total of 259 people whose heart
suddenly stopped at home or in public were resuscitated and
discharged from hospital in 2010/11, 22 more people than the
previous year.
However, bystanders only attempted
the lifesaving intervention before ambulance staff
arrived in 37 per cent of out-of-hospital cardiac
arrests, according to the latest London Ambulance Service
figures.
London Ambulance Service Medical
Director Fionna Moore said: “Thanks to the hard work of our staff
in reaching patients quickly and providing an excellent level of
care, the number of Londoners surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac
arrest has gone up for the third consecutive year.
“However, bystanders are only
stepping in to help cardiac arrest patients before ambulance staff
arrive just over a third of the time. If you witness a cardiac
arrest, you can effectively save someone’s life by calling 999 for
an ambulance straight away and carrying out basic life support.
“We now have a team of dedicated
paramedics funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) who are
working in the community to teach people Heartstart, a simple
life-saving course.”
In public places around the capital,
like train stations, where staff are trained to use a defibrillator to shock a person’s heart if it
stops, the cardiac arrest survival rate is much higher than the
rest of London (32 per cent).
There are over 600 public-access
defibrillators, donated by the BHF, across London.
Senior Cardiac Nurse at the BHF Ellen Mason
said: “These statistics show that bystanders are only
stepping in to help save a life in little over a third of cases
which simply isn’t enough. With each minute that passes before
defibrillation, the chances of survival are reduced by about ten
per cent.
“The British Heart Foundation’s
partnership with the London Ambulance Service has helped get our
Heartstart Emergency Life Support (ELS) skills training and
defibrillators to the places they are most needed across the city.
We now want more Londoners to sign-up to one of our Heartstart
courses and learn ELS – it could save someone’s life.”
Cardiac arrest annual report 201-11
The figures were published this week
in the London Ambulance Service 2010/11
Cardiac Arrest Annual Report.
Patient case study – Keith Grey
Keith Grey, 41, was working out in his gym
when he suffered a cardiac arrest in October last year.
Luckily for primary schoolteacher Keith, the
staff at the Central YMCA Club, Bloomsbury, had been trained by the
London Ambulance Service in basic life support and how to use a
defibrillator.
The gym has a public-access defibrillator
which was partly funded by the British Heart Foundation.
Gym staff immediately recognised Keith’s
symptoms, called 999 for an ambulance and began basic life
support.
They shocked his heart with the defibrillator
and his heartbeat returned.
A motorcycle paramedic, ambulance crew and
single responder arrived soon afterwards and provided advanced life
support. Keith was taken to University College Hospital for further
treatment.
Keith was diagnosed with an irregular heart
rhythm and fitted with an internal cardioverter defibrillator. He
was back at work in the New Year.
Central YMCA Club Director Barry Cronin said:
“With an average of 1,000 people using Central YMCA Club every day,
we believe it is vital that our staff are fully trained and
confident in basic life support and in using
defibrillators.
“Thanks to the training we received from the London Ambulance
Service our staff have successfully managed to deal with two
incidents in which our Club members required urgent medical
attention, and in both cases they were critical in saving
lives.”
- Ends -
Notes to editors:
Utstein cardiac arrest survival
rate
The Utstein cardiac arrest survival rate in
London in 2010/11 is 22.8 per cent, up from 21.5 per cent the
previous year. This is the highest level it has ever been in
London.
The cardiac arrest survival figure is calculated using the
internationally-recognised Utstein method. The calculation takes
into account the number of patients discharged alive from hospital
who had resuscitation attempted following a cardiac arrest of
presumed cardiac aetiology, and who also had their arrest witnessed
by a bystander and an initial cardiac rhythm of ventricular
fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia.
Additional figures from London
Ambulance Service Cardiac Arrest Annual Report 2010/11 –
Authors: Gurkamal Virdi and Lynne Watson
- Around two thirds of cardiac arrests in
London occurred in the home (67.7 per cent)
- Just over a fifth of cardiac arrests
occurred in public (20.8 per cent)
- Of those arrests in public:
- 55 took place in a tube, rail or bus station
- 44 took place in a shop
- 33 took place in a leisure centre or sports
facility
- 26 took place in an airport
- 14 took place in a hostel or hotel
- 14 took place in a pub or club
- 11 took place in a place of worship
- 8 took place in a restaurant
- Between a third and a half of all
cardiac arrests were witnessed by bystanders (44.1 per
cent)
- However, bystanders only attempted
basic life support before ambulance staff arrived in just over a
third of all cardiac arrests (36.7 per cent)
- The average age of a cardiac arrest
patient was 68
- The majority of patients (64 per cent)
were male
- Female patients were on average six
years older than males (72 compared with 66)
- Cardiac arrests occurred most
frequently on a Monday
- The highest number in a single month
occurred in December (10.8 per cent) and the fewest in July (6.9
per cent).