Later this month (October) leisure centres across Wiltshire will support a nationwide initiative aimed at improving survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

Restart a Heart takes place on Thursday 16 October and to support the campaign, Wiltshire Council leisure centres will host free CPR demonstrations and hands-on “have-a-go” sessions. The interactive sessions will teach the basics of CPR and defibrillator use, using trusted resources provided by RLSS UK. The goal is to give people the confidence and competence to act swiftly in an emergency.  Full details of the sessions being offered can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisure-events.

Each year, approximately 30,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest – that’s around 84 individuals every day. But survival rates are low, with just one in ten people recovering^*.

The Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) and an alliance of first aid organisations, including Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK), UK Ambulance Services, universities, and other charitable and public sector community-based organisations and first aid training organisations, lead the campaign.

Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement and Corporate Services, Cllr Mel Jacob, said: “We’re proud to be taking part in the Restart a Heart campaign this year and offering potentially lifesaving CPR training to the community. This is a really important campaign, and through the hands-on sessions and by raising awareness, hopefully we are helping people to gain the confidence and skills to act quickly in an emergency.  I would encourage everyone to visit their local centre and have a go, you never know when you might need to step in and help.”

Nick Grazier, RLSS UK, said: “We have been supporting the Restart a Heart campaign for a number of years, but we have been actively encouraging leisure operators to get more involved this year, as there are still concerningly high numbers of individuals who have never learnt CPR and it is a really important skill to know in any situation.”

“We hope that by supporting the leisure industry in spreading the important messages integral to the Restart a Heart campaign, more people will be confident in dealing with an emergency safely.”

For more about the Restart a Heart campaign, visit www.rlss.org.uk/ or to learn more about how to deliver CPR, visit www.rlss.org.uk/learn-cpr

Image Provided By Wiltshire County Council