Any good samaritans out there?

[Martyn_n]

As an avid cycling fan I was watching the "Hell of the north" Paris - Roubaix race yesterday and was reminded of the fact that last year's winner, Sonny Colbrelli, recently suffered a cardiac arrest whilst competing in Spain. Unike footballers such as Christian Eriksen and Fabrice Muamba it didn't make the front pages but as with those two individuals Sonny's life was saved by immediate, effective CPR and defibrillation. In contrast a few years ago, in the same race I was watching yesterday Micheal Goolaerts suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the side of the road, maybe he could have survived if a bystander undertook CPR, maybe not but it would have given him the best possible chance.

This rapid access to resuscitation is key to out of hospital cardiac arrest survival and for this reason the NHS has (quietly) embraced the Goodsam App to enable volunteers who are medically trained to respond to incidents and maybe arrive before the ambulance service to commence CPR. Can I please ask that you take two minutes to watch this goodsam video and have a think about whether you could join the scheme. It is not for everyone, my wife has attended 3 incidents and none have ended well but the families have all appreciated the effort, but it is an increadibly important thing that you could do for your community. If it can happen to elite athletes it can happen to your friends and family!

If you do watch the video you will see my daughter, Amelia, who suffered her cardiac arrest aged 10yrs at the end of a cross country race and who was saved by her mum and head teacher carrying out cpr for 20+ minutes until the ambulance arrived. This is obviously why it is important to me to promote the scheme but try to imagine this happening to someone close to you and nobody is there to help, you could give someone the best chance of survival.

So if anyone has the training and fancies being a goodsam-aritan, please download the app. If anyone on the forum already does this please share your stories.

 

[MissyD]

Thanks for sharing

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Thank you for sharing.

Can you comment on how you think people should seek that initial training / orientation?

Basic medical awareness is important. I went to collect my son from a Scouts evening a couple of decades ago, Although there were twenty adults in the room waiting for the session to finish, none of them had realised that the Scout leader had had a stroke in the session. I saw it and immediately called the ambulance, If I hadn't done so, I'm sure the Scout leader would have just dismissed it as a "bad turn,' with possibly disastrous results.

 

[Martyn_n]

Can you comment on how you think people should seek that initial training / orientation?

Basic medical awareness is important. I went to collect my son from a Scouts evening a couple of decades ago, Although there were twenty adults in the room waiting for the session to finish, none of them had realised that the Scout leader had had a stroke in the session. I saw it and immediately called the ambulance, If I hadn't done so, I'm sure the Scout leader would have just dismissed it as a "bad turn,' with possibly disastrous results.

I gained training as part of my scuba diving training, I believe many diving schools offer first aid / cpr & AED training. St John's ambulance can provide training as can a number of charities. I have also had training at work in the past, if you get a certificate for this then you can sign up. Below is cut and pasted from the website, not a definitive list but examples I believe.

"We accept any Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 certificates i.e.

Membership card of St John or Red Cross
Evidence of work as Cabin Crew
Life Guard Certification
First Aid Certification (First Aid at Work or above)
First Aid Certification that reaches Health and Safety Executive Standards/Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations (1981) (in UK or equivalent)
BTEC certification"

I fully agree that it is important to gain some basic awareness and ensure those around you do too, it may be you who needs the help.

In the aftermath of my daughter's arrest my wife did some training for parents and staff at the school and within two weeks another life had been saved by one of the participants when one of his employees suffered a cardiac arrest at work. You never know when it will be needed, hopefully never but better safe than sorry.

 

[poormansporsche]

If it's not impolite to ask how your Daughter is now ?

 

[Martyn_n]

If it's not impolite to ask how your Daughter is now ?

It's not impolite at all, thanks for showing an interest.
She is really well thanks, quite a miracle considering how long she was in VF. She has very slight issues with her attention span that she didn't have before but I'll take that when you consider where we could be at; survival rates for juvenile out of hospital arrests are virtually zero for a number of reasons. Physically, she underwent surgery shortly after her arrest to correct an anomoly with one of her coronary arteries and has had no further issues (she never had any symptoms pre arrest either). In two weeks time she is taking part in her first road bike race, it'll be a bit nerve racking but I am really proud of her bravery.
Amelia and her mum have made a lot of effort to support the air ambulance who attended and to promote CPR training so if you Google "Amelia Naylor" she has quite a presence online; infamous rather than famous I guess!

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , basic medical training is paramount.

When I was a boy I was in the Red Cross and I was given training in basic first aid.

Over the years that training has served me well / an example first person to arrive at a serious RTA , approaching not knowing what you would find I would not wish on anybody.

That has happened to me three times.

Don't want to bore everyone but that training has stood me in good stead over the years.

 

[poormansporsche]

It's not impolite at all, thanks for showing an interest.
She is really well thanks, quite a miracle considering how long she was in VF. She has very slight issues with her attention span that she didn't have before but I'll take that when you consider where we could be at; survival rates for juvenile out of hospital arrests are virtually zero for a number of reasons. Physically, she underwent surgery shortly after her arrest to correct an anomoly with one of her coronary arteries and has had no further issues (she never had any symptoms pre arrest either). In two weeks time she is taking part in her first road bike race, it'll be a bit nerve racking but I am really proud of her bravery.
Amelia and her mum have made a lot of effort to support the air ambulance who attended and to promote CPR training so if you Google "Amelia Naylor" she has quite a presence online; infamous rather than famous I guess!

Thanks. I do hope she can live a normal life. I'm sure it goes without saying that you get to appreciate every little thing !!! You are a lucky man to have such a selfless super mum / wife as well

 

[Martyn_n]

Thanks. I do hope she can live a normal life. I'm sure it goes without saying that you get to appreciate every little thing !!! You are a lucky man to have such a selfless super mum / wife as well

She does remind me how lucky I am quite often!