CPR charity celebrates training 5,000 people

Richard Vakis-Lowe formed Heartstart Malvern in 2017

A Worcestershire charity has reached a major milestone having provided Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to 5,000 people.

Heartstart Malvern launched in 2017, offering CPR and defibrillator training sessions free of charge.

To mark the achievement, the charity headed to Dyson Perrins School in Malvern to train 150 pupils.

Heartstart Malvern chairman Richard Vakis-Lowe said the charity aimed to increase cardiac arrest survival rates in Worcestershire.

According to the British Heart Foundation, more than 30,000 cardiac arrests happen out of hospital each year and fewer than one in ten people survive.

The most common cause of a cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF).

VF happens when the electrical activity of the heart becomes so chaotic it stops pumping and quivers instead.

A defibrillator can help to restart the heart while CPR can help to buy time by keeping all of the important organs, including the heart and the brain, supplied with oxygen.

According to Mr Vakis-Lowe, a person's chances of survival can be increased drastically depending on the immediate actions of family members and bystanders, following a cardiac arrest.

Speaking at Dyson Perrins School, Mr Vakis-Lowe said: "We are over the moon that we have trained 5,000 people now and it has been quite an achievement.

"This has only been made possible by all our volunteers and although 5,000 is an achievement we still have a long way to go."

He added: "If someone has not started CPR within three minutes that person will not survive.

"So it is absolutely critical that everybody knows these skills."

Assistant head teacher for personal development at Dyson Perrins School Amy Everitt said the school had been working with Heartstart Malvern for the last seven years.

"Always these sessions are considered to be really valuable and the students go away really happy," she explained.

"It is really great we can support a growing charity and also give our students a really great opportunity to learn life saving skills."

One Year 10 student said: "Obviously, I had seen stuff on TV shows about how to kind of do it but I never really knew the proper details."

He continued: "If there was someone in a real life emergency I think I now have the knowledge to really make that work."

Heartstart Malvern hopes to train another 5,000 people by 2027 to celebrate the charity's 10th anniversary.

Mr Vakis-Lowe added he aimed to increase the number of public access defibrillators from 33 to 50 in that time.