Hunter Heart Safe will be offering their hands only CPR training to members of the local community in free sessions held at Belmont 16s in the coming months, in a partnership program that aims to equip over 1,000 members of the local community with the skills and confidence to save a life.
Each year around 30,000 Australians suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, but only 10 per cent survive.
Hunter Heart Safe’s Coordinator, Dr Mark Miller, a local Emergency Medicine Specialist, says that this statistic improves significantly with early bystander CPR and defibrillation.
“If a victim of sudden cardiac arrest gets good quality chest compressions and bystander defibrillation, their chances of survival are five times greater than if onlookers waited for paramedics to arrive,” Mark said.
In Hunter Heart Safe’s 40 minute free sessions held at Belmont 16s you will learn how to recognise when someone is in cardiac arrest, how to perform hands only CPR, how to use an AED, and the critical importance of bystander response to improve outcomes.
“Any delay in starting CPR can lead to bad outcomes,” Mark said.
“It is time critical, but learning CPR and how to use an AED is not difficult, and that is why it’s important we teach as many people as possible in our community how to respond in this situation because it saves lives.”
Belmont 16s CEO, Scott Williams, said that the Club is supportive of local organisations that are active in the community and seeking to improve local outcomes.
“Hunter Heart Safe is a fantastic grassroots organisation that is dedicated to saving as many local lives as possible,” Scott said.
“And that is why we have partnered with them to facilitate larger group training sessions for the wider community to help them achieve this goal.”
People can register now for one of the free sessions held at Belmont 16s via their website. There are over 20 sessions available to all members of the community.
The first session will take place on Thursday 27 February.
Hunter Heart Safe is also always looking for more volunteers to assist in training community groups, so get in touch with their team if you wish to be involved.
Please note that this training teaches life skills only and is not an official accreditation.
IMAGE | Dr Mark Miller of Hunter Heart Safe & Belmont 16s CEO, Scott Williams (left-right)