RCUK calls for businesses and individuals to become ResusReady

To mark Restart a Heart Month, Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) has launched a powerful new CPR awareness campaign, ResusReady, to help save more lives from a cardiac arrest, particularly where inequalities in resuscitation exist.

The ResusReady campaign, in partnership with Save a Life for Scotland, is calling on businesses across the UK, who offer their staff CPR training, and CPR trained individuals, to pledge to being ResusReady.

By signing up, businesses and individuals will be given the opportunity to appear on an interactive heat map, allowing RCUK to identify where the gaps in CPR training and defibrillator awareness still exist in the UK.

There are more than 100,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, and of those treated by ambulance personnel - over 34,000 - fewer than one in 10 people survive, yet bystander CPR is performed less often in deprived communities. Bystander CPR can double the chance of survival from an Out of hospital cardiac arrest.

The campaign is a free initiative that requires a few simple steps to join. Organisations must have offered staff access to basic CPR training within the last 12 months or made them aware of CPR training resources, such as first aid training or RCUK’s Lifesaver and e-Lifesaver.

Individuals must have completed CPR training within the last 12 months.

To help get businesses and individuals ResusReady, RCUK has created an inspiring short film which features stories from Brentford FC, Meridian FC, and a cardiac arrest survivor, Neil Davidson.

The film encourages organisations who provide basic CPR training to staff, as well as individuals who are already equipped with this lifesaving skill, to sign up to become ResusReady. It also urges every organisation and individual across the UK to learn CPR, become ResusReady and help light up the map, so that RCUK can spot where the inequalities exist to ensure everyone has an equal chance of survival.

Once registered on the RCUK website, businesses and individuals can proudly display the ResusReady badge to signal their readiness to act in an emergency, and receive a certificate in recognition of their commitment to help save lives.

James Cant, CEO at RCUK, said: “A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time. Every second counts during the ultimate medical emergency and if CPR is not done quickly, the person will die. It only takes a few minutes to learn this lifesaving skill, which you can access via our website. Our new interactive heatmap will provide vital data in helping us to know exactly where we need to target our efforts to ensure everyone, has an equal chance of survival.”

Nity Raj, Brentford FC Director and General Counsel, added: “I’m so pleased that we are ResusReady and can really show our commitment as a club to our local community. On a matchday, attendees and staff have access to 8 defibs in total, two of which are publicly accessible outside our stadium. This is one of many things we are doing as part of our Heart of West London initiative to make a difference to cardiac health in our community. We are proud that staff at Brentford FC Community Sports Trust have also recently completed RCUK’s Basic Life Support Instructor course to teach life-saving skills to as many people as possible in the local area.”

Hertfordshire is the first county in the UK to be ResusReady. Hearts for Herts Charity have recently celebrated teaching 1,000 people across the county this lifesaving skill.

Justin Honey-Jones, Chair at Hearts for Herts, Paramedic and RCUK Instructor said: “We are very proud to have helped Hertfordshire become the first ResusReady county in the UK. We passionately champion the importance of communities learning CPR, because every second counts in a cardiac arrest. We offer a free 3.5 hour Heartstart Lifesaver course to anyone who is between the ages of 11 to 97. We encourage everyone to learn this essential lifesaving skill because Every Heart Matters”.

ResusReady is a key part of RCUK’s Restart a Heart campaign, which begins on Wednesday 16 October and continues throughout the month. The campaign aims to increase the number of people trained in CPR and defib awareness.

Save a Life for Scotland added: “Learning how to help someone in the event of a cardiac arrest is one of the ways we look out for each other. Everyone should get ResusReady and know how to do CPR and use a defibrillator.”

Sign up today, commit to CPR training, and help light up the ResusReady map - showing your community that you’re ready to save lives. https://www.resus.org.uk/resusready/

Wed, 02/10/2024

Additional Quotes:

Neil Davidson: "After surviving a cardiac arrest, I knew I wanted to give back to my community in any way I could. Checking defibs and teaching CPR are small steps that can make a huge difference in saving lives. Signing up to the ResusReady scheme felt like a natural step for me—I'm proud to be one of RCUK's first signups and to play a part in helping others respond confidently when every second counts."

Carlos Attafuah, Trustee at Meridian FC: “Meridian Football Club sadly lost one of our friends and player, Robert Eshun, to a cardiac arrest last year. The club wanted to raise awareness on CPR and heart health, and becoming ResusReady allows us to feel confident that we could deal with a cardiac arrest in the future.”

For more information or to request for an interview or case studies please call the Resuscitation Council UK Press Office on 0207 388 4678 or email stella.hindle@resus.org.uk / tom.shearsmith@resus.org.uk / communications@resus.org.uk

Resuscitation Council UK is saving lives by developing guidelines, inﬂuencing policy, delivering courses and supporting cutting-edge research. Through education, training and research, we’re working towards the day when everyone in the country has the skills they need to save a life.
There are more than 100,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK - RCUK Every second counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation report.
Bystander CPR is performed less often in deprived communities. Bystander CPR can double the chance of survival from an Out of hospital cardiac arrest - RCUK Every second counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation report.
Every second counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation report - RCUK commissioned a survey to understand the views and expectations of people from certain ethnic minority groups in England around learning and performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
- Fieldwork was conducted in February 2023, in areas with high levels of cardiac arrest in London, North East, North West, West Midland and Yorkshire and Humber.
- The ethnic groups surveyed included people from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, African, and Caribbean backgrounds. The survey tool was designed to enable comparisons between this study and the wider population data.
- The research had two main stages:
  - Qualitative stage which was completed in November 2022 and involved 14 focus groups eliciting both breadth and depth of responses covering the main research objectives.
  - Quantitative stage which was conducted in February 2023. This comprised a paperless survey conducted face-to-face of 509 respondents aged 18+ to gain a greater understanding of population level knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions.