Awareness about availability and usage of defibrillators has been raised after footballer Christian Eriksen, 29, suffered a cardiac arrest during the Euro 2020 Championship match between Denmark and Finland.
German emergency doctor Jens Kleinfeld rushed onto the field to provide CPR to Eriksen, who was then shocked back to consciousness.
He said that shocks administered with the defibrillator were essential to successful resuscitation, and that if defibrillation is administered within two minutes of a cardiac incident, then survival rates can reach 90%, whereas these chances drop off sharply after that, falling as low as 10%.
In the UK , it’s a cause for concern, as roughly 10% of individuals who suffer a cardiac incident outside of a controlled hospital setting will survive the experience, figures show.
A factor that con-tributes partly to this low survival rate is that victims don’t typically receive defibrillation or CPR quickly enough.
Local groups and charities continue to campaign and fundraise to supply defibrillators in as many public places as possible, such as the donation of a new defibrillator to Ysgol Gymraeg Brynsierfel by the Llwynhendy & Pemberton forum last month.
Cllr Jason Hart said: “Since the Llwynhendy and Pemberton Forum was founded in 2017 we have installed 4 defibrillators, this equates to one a year. We have always stressed the importance of the life saving equipment around our community. We have raised funds to install them at the Bryn and Trallwm Club, Llwynhendy Police Station, Llwyn Yr Ynys Complex and more recently at Ysgol Gymraeg Brynsierfel. We have plans to install further life saving defibrillators over the next 12 months. We would like to thank and praise the local community for always supporting our fundraising efforts. Without this support it would not have been possible.”
In Wales, greater availability of defibrillators has been a concern since Health Secretary Vaughan Gething’s action plan was published in 2017.
More recently, Transport For Wales has made a commitment to install 200 of them at stations across their network over the next 18 months.
They directly mention Christian Eriksen’s incident as the factor leading to the decision. Calon Heart Screening Charity, who have been screening since 2015, have released a petition to the Senedd for free heart screenings for all 11-35 year olds who represent their school or county in sport, who say that incidents similar to Eriksen’s can be prevented with screening.
To sign and help them reach 10,000 signatures, go to: https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/244862MP Jim Shannon has pushed to put a bill before Parliament to make it a legal requirement to install the equipment at public locations.
This bill will see its second reading on September 10th.Awareness has also been raised regarding the number of people with the training to use the kit in an emergency situation.
A resident of Kidwelly you preferred to remain anonymous said: “What good will it do if they’re installed everywhere if no one knows how to use them? You can’t always guarantee an ambulance will show up in good time to make a difference in a real emergency.”
