Working with Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, we have had a defibrillator installed at our branch, so local residents will have that best chance on their worst day.
In 2022, 28% of callouts for Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) were to people suffering a cardiac arrest.
Right now, fewer than 1 in 10 will survive a cardiac arrest in the UK…
But with early bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) plus defibrillation within 3-5 min of collapse, survival rates as high as 49–75% can be seen.
We have worked with Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, so that local residents will have that best chance on their worst day. There is now a public access defibrillator on our building at Victoria House, on Back Albert Place and it is ready for public use if required.
Together with GWAAC we can improve outcomes for our shared community and see fewer avoidable deaths. We want anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest to receive immediate CPR and defibrillation so that we can see more people survive like Forrest Wheeler, who collapsed in Pittville Park, Cheltenham. Thanks to early CPR, early defibrillation, and GWAAC’s Critical Care Team who put Forrest in an induced coma, he is still here and has these pearls of wisdom to share:
“If anyone takes anything away from my story, it’s that if you have any hesitations about using a defibrillator – don’t. My message is, just use it. The machine tells you what to do, it’s so easy and it’s better to give it a go than not try at all.”