Beverley Heartstart held their first course at St Mary’s Church Parish Hall that teaches people basic first aid skills and other techniques that could help save lives.
Dr Simon Gower a consultant from Castle Hill Hospital supported by a group of local doctors, nurses and paramedics are helping to deliver a course that was created by the British Heart Foundation.
To date, over 3.5 million people have attended Heartstart courses throughout the UK and now for the next few weeks one is being held in Beverley every week.
At the first class to be held was MP for Beverley and Holderness Graham Stuart, who has been activity promoting the importance of communities having access to a defibrillator.
Amanda Price, a nurse from Beverley who is helping to deliver the course knows only too well the importance of teaching as many people as possible these vital skills, she said;
“My dad collapsed and died out jogging and if the people around him had started CPR it could have been a different story so it’s a great skill to have.”
Effective CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest by a bystander can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival, but currently less than 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.
With the home the most likely place that a cardiac arrest will occur, in simple terms the life you save with CPR is mostly likely to be someone you love.
Beverley Heartstart courses are free and can take as little as two hours. You will learn about, dealing with an unconscious person, the signs and symptoms of a heart attack, recognising a cardiac arrest and performing CPR, dealing with choking and dealing with serious bleeding.
To book a place simply visit the Beverley Heartstart Facebook page, although the course is free organisers are collecting donations with the funds being used to purchase a defibrillator for the community.
