Anum Qaisar attends parliamentary event to improve access to life-saving defibrillators
Anum Qaisar, SNP MP for Airdrie and Shotts, attended an event in Westminster this week to support a campaign to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest in Airdrie and Shotts and across the UK.
The parliamentary event was hosted by Rapid Response Revival, in partnership with St John Ambulance, who are on a mission to reduce the UK death toll from sudden cardiac arrest.
In the UK, 150 people die per day from sudden cardiac arrest. It is one of the nation’s biggest killers, killing more people than cancer. According to the British Heart Foundation, each year, 60,000 sudden cardiac arrests happen out of hospital. The vast majority of them happen in the home (72%) or the workplace (15%) - with little to no warning.
New research carried out on the UK population reveals that only 18% of people would feel confident using a defibrillator if they witnessed a loved one suffering a sudden cardiac arrest. What’s more, 62% of adults don’t know where their nearest defibrillator is when they are at home. Survival rate is low; if a victim does not receive CPR or defibrillation within the first ten minutes, they will not survive.
Rapid Response Revival has created the world-first personal defibrillator, CellAED, which is a fraction of the price, size, and weight of conventional AEDs. Designed to be used by someone with no medical training, it is improving the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest, increasing access to defibrillators and overcoming barriers to their use.
Anum Qaisar MP said, “Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the country’s biggest killers. It happens quickly and kills rapidly. Without defibrillation, the chances of survival drop by 10% every minute. Without quick access to the right people, with the right equipment, people will continue to die unnecessarily. While there is much work to be done, I support the efforts of Rapid Response Revival and St John Ambulance to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and improve access to CPR training and live saving defibrillators.”