CPR kits helps save lives across the UK

A newly launched British Heart Foundation initiative will facilitate resuscitation training in schools and community groups

Posted by Dave Higgitt | November 11, 2014 | Teaching

• #british-heart-foundation
• #laerdal
• #cpr
• #lifesavers-initiative
• #resusci-anne

Laerdal, the producer of the cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training mannequin Resusci Anne, has welcomed the Nation of Lifesavers initiative launched by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in October. The British Heart Foundation purchased over 30,000 of Laerdal’s CPR kits so that community groups and secondary schools could learn CPR without incurring a cost.

Statistics reveal that approximately 24,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest in the home every year and as Jon Laerdal, managing director, Laerdal UK, explains: “The Nation of Lifesavers CPR community programme empowers lay people to learn how to perform basic life-saving skills for cardiac arrest victims. Stavanger, in Norway, has the one of the highest survival rates from out of hospital cardiac arrest worldwide and this is partly because CPR training is part of the school curriculum. If the UK was to achieve the same survival rates as Stavanger in Norway, an additional 5,000 lives could be saved every year.”

To mark the launch, the BHF, together with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, trained nearly 12,000 children in a bid to inspire all secondary schools to register for a free CPR training kit.

To enable the training Laerdal has sold thousands of CPR training kits to the BHF. The Mini Anne Plus kits contain 35 lightweight mannequin and a ‘watch and learn’ DVD enabling individuals to carry out the training themselves. “These kits will make CPR training easy and memorable in the hope that if anyone is in a situation where they need to perform cardio pulmonary resuscitation they will know how to do it,” says John Laedal. “Our partnership with the BHF continues to grow and we are proud to be affiliated with such an inspired initiative. Our shared goals remain at the forefront of our relationship, and national campaigns like this are essential in achieving such objectives. Ultimately we hope the UK becomes a leading example globally of how to implement the CPR training in schools initiative successfully, saving thousands of lives for years to come.”

Laerdal is a global corporation dedicated to helping save lives through the advancement of resuscitation and emergency care. The business works with organisations such as the British Heart Foundation to implement high-impacting CPR programmes, to help increase survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest from the current 7 per cent to 12 per cent by 2020. Globally, the CPR training in schools initiative is extremely strong, with Laerdal working with key organisations in countries such as Denmark, Norway and the US. 

www.laerdal.com