Roughly 15,000 Australians suffer from cardiac arrest each year, and of that number about 10,000 people die. It remains a leading cause of death, and, while you’re more than twice as likely to survive if helped by someone, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is only attempted on about one third of people suffering cardiac arrest.

The first couple of minutes after suffering cardiac arrest are the difference between life and death. After only a few minutes there is a risk of brain damage, and after 10 minutes, almost no chance of survival. For every minute that CPR is withheld, your chances go down by about 10%.

According to research by the national Heart Foundation, 20% of people in Australia don’t know how to recognise the signs of cardiac arrest. Compared to Denmark, which has doubled the rate of training people in CPR, or Seattle, where knowing CPR is required to obtain a driver’s license, this is a depressing statistic.

Sadly, most Australians wouldn’t know what to do if faced with this kind of situation. While emergency call operators are able to talk someone through administering this potentially life-saving procedure, for various reasons, that rarely occurs. Since ambulances generally take more than eight minutes to arrive, almost no one has a chance of surviving cardiac arrest without receiving aid immediately.

Despite great advancements having been made over the past fifty years, from noticing the early warning signs of cardiac arrest to faster access to medical attention and increased defibrillation technology, the cardiac arrest survival rate in Australia has remained the same for more than thirty years.

Furthermore, the rate at which bystanders attempt CPR is drastically low. However, those who have training in CPR were found to be up to seven times more likely to attempt it than people without said training.

Ultimately, safety and emergency training can be vitally important, even for people who don’t work in at-risk industries. Knowing how to administer CPR is something all people should know, yet it is drastically under-taught in Australia.

CPR training is very simple, and can be taught in less than half an hour. This basic skill is potentially life-saving, and could be needed in almost any place, at any time.

For more information, click the following links:

– http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/09/03/australians-urged-learn-lifesaving-cpr
– http://arcnsw.org.au/files/4913/5088/1980/Cardiac_Arrest_-_intro_summary_-_ARC_NSW_document.pdf

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