Resuscitation Council UK launches Community Grant Scheme to help increase survival rates across the UK

Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) has launched a new Community Grant Scheme that aims to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance of surviving the ultimate medical emergency.

Organisations and community groups in deprived areas across the UK are being empowered to help save lives in their local area by applying for a small community grant that they can use to organise CPR training, and awareness events, in the run up to Restart A Heart month this October.

Out of hospital cardiac arrests affect over 100,000 people per year in the UK, but sadly the survival rate is less than 1 in 10, and survival falls by 10% for every minute a person doesn’t receive CPR or defibrillation.

RCUK are offering small charities, with an annual income of less than £500,000, community groups and faith groups the chance to apply for grants of up to £1,500, so they can grow community engagement around cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator awareness, to help save lives.

The charity, which recently launched the report Every second counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation, is targeting organisations in ‘hot spot’ areas – where bystander CPR rates are lower than the UK average and cardiac arrest incidences are higher than the UK average.

Areas include Yorkshire and Humber, London, North East, North West, West Midland and the South West of England as well as areas in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Findings from the report show that nearly a third (32%) of people from certain minority ethnic groups have had first or second-hand experience of cardiac arrest, yet six in ten (59%) lacked the knowledge and skills to perform CPR.

James Cant, CEO at RCUK said: “Evidence suggests that there are huge disparities between rich and poor, and people from different cultural backgrounds, when facing the ultimate medical emergency. We want to address these inequalities and would encourage organisations in underserved areas to apply for the grant. Increasing CPR knowledge and training in the community is an effective way to give people everywhere an equal chance of surviving a cardiac arrest.”

Projects funded under the scheme should focus on one or more of the following:

Share information around CPR and defibrillator use
Address misinformation and barriers to CPR and defibrillator use
Provide training

Deadline for applications is Friday 28 June 2024 at 17.00.

The Community Grant Scheme 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.

Organisations can apply here.

- Ends –

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

Wed, 29/05/2024

Notes to editors

1. 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.

2. Out of hospital cardiac arrests affect over 100,000 people per year in the UK - Every second counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation report - https://www.resus.org.uk/get-involved/inequalities-in-resuscitation

3. Survival rate is less than 1 in 10 - Are there disparities in the location of automated external defibrillators in England? - Resuscitation (resuscitationjournal.com)

4. Survival falls by 10% for every minute a patient doesn’t receive CPR or defibrillation - Estimating Effectiveness of Cardiac Arrest Interventions | Circulation (ahajournals.org)

5. A third (32%) of people from certain minority ethnic groups have had first or second-hand experience of cardiac arrest, yet six in ten (59%) lacked the knowledge and skills to perform CPR.

• 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.

• In Scotland, the most deprived areas are where residents are more than twice as likely to have an OHCA, and 40% less likely to be alive 30 days after the event.

• In Northern Ireland and Wales, we are using available data to identify areas most in need, though at present neither country has a national registry on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes.