Record number survive cardiac arrest after rise in CPR training

 
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22 August 2012

The number of people surviving cardiac arrest in London has hit a record high thanks to bystanders who help to resuscitate them.

Footballer Fabrice Muamba was among 362 people who lived through the ordeal in the capital in the last year — the best survival rate in the UK.

His recovery was partly down to Spurs fan Dr Andrew Deaner, a London Chest Hospital cardiologist, who helped perform lifesaving treatment when the Bolton midfielder, 24, collapsed on the White Hart Lane pitch in March.

London Ambulance Service today said an increase in people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation — CPR — was partly behind the rise in the number of patients surviving.

It released figures showing 32 per cent of LAS patients whose heart stopped beating were resuscitated and discharged from hospital in 2011/12. This compares with only five per cent a decade ago and is the highest ever survival rate.

The findings relate to people whose heart stopped at home or out in public — not in hospital. Research shows that performing CPR immediately a cardiac arrest occurs doubles the chance of survival.

More than 14,000 Londoners, including Dame Helen Mirren and Mayor Boris Johnson, learned CPR last year with the help of LAS paramedics and the British Heart Foundation.

LAS medical director Fionna Moore said lives were being saved by the public, as well as by staff arriving quickly and delivering more effective care. “London’s survival rate is among the highest in Europe,” said Dr Moore.

“This year we’ve seen more people than ever attempting CPR ... more patients are being given the best chance of survival before ambulance staff arrive.”

Erica Payet, 25, was jogging in Bermondsey Street, Southwark, in March when she collapsed and stopped breathing. A passer-by called 999 and motorcycle paramedics arrived within five minutes, to find bystanders already performing basic life support.

Medics restarted her heart with defibrillator pads and she was taken to St Thomas’ Hospital. The King’s College London student has now been fitted with a tiny defibrillator.

She said: “I’d urge everyone to train in CPR. If I’d collapsed in any other city then I don’t think I’d still be alive.”

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