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Improving the survival rate
of cardiac arrest
THOUSANDS of lives could be saved every
year in the UK if all children were trained in basic life support,
defibrillators were more readily available and screening was introduced for
children at risk of heart conditions, said experts from the North West Ambulance
Service NHS Trust (NWAS) to an audience of MPs.
The Trust held an event on 27 January 2015, at the House of Commons, in London,
hosted by Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, to get
parliamentary support for improving survival rates for out of hospital cardiac
arrest in the UK, which are currently around 8%.
Guest speakers from NWAS, and those whose life had been saved or who had
successfully resuscitated a victim, spoke at the
event about the importance of bystanders taking action by calling:- 999,
starting CPR and using a defibrillator to significantly improve chances of
survival.
The life savers and survivors of cardiac arrest who talked about their
experiences, including a lady who successfully performed CPR on her husband
while being talked through the simple steps by an NWAS call handler, and a
gentleman who was resuscitated by a lake with a public access defibrillator.
NWAS Chief Executive, Bob Williams said:- "Early intervention makes the
difference between life and death so it's vital that bystanders know what to do;
call:- 999, start CPR and grab the nearest defibrillator. Teaching these
potentially life saving skills in schools so that children take them throughout
their life is an obvious solution. Defibrillators are the only way to restart
the heart in some cases of cardiac arrests, so having them as readily available
as fire extinguishers would make a real difference. We would also welcome
screening for children at risk of sudden cardiac arrests to prevent unnecessary
deaths. We want the UK to have the best survival rates for out of hospital
cardiac arrests and believe these steps would help get us there."
Numerous guests signed pledge boards in support of NWAS' aims, including MPs and
Lords who fully supported the need to strengthen the links of the chain of
survival to improve out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rates across the UK.
For more information visit:- @NWAmbulance or use the #CardiacSmart to see what
people are saying.
Breastfeeding
ambassadors graduate
A group of breast feeding
ambassadors who will spread the word about the benefits of mother's
milk graduate, on Wednesday 28 January 2015, in Liverpool.
The 28 new Liverpool Bambi's (Babies and Mums Breastfeeding
Information Service) are joining a 1,700 strong group of mums in the
City who provide information, encouragement and training to other
mothers of new borns.
Figures show that Liverpool is making improvements in the number of
breastfed children up in 2013/14 from 50.9% to 53.2% at birth,
while at 6 weeks old it has risen from 29.1% to 31.2%.
However this still lags significantly behind the national average,
which is around 74% after birth and 46% after 6 weeks.
The majority of the mums who are graduating received support
themselves from the Bambi's scheme and now want to pass on their
knowledge to others.
Councillor Jane Corbett, Cabinet member for children's services,
said:- "Congratulations to all our new ambassadors and massive
thanks for taking on this really important role. The Bambi's scheme
is helping us make improvements in the number of young children who
are being breast fed. It is great news that we are adding to the
number of mums willing to pass on their own experiences to support
others in the same situation."
Dr Sandra Davies, Liverpool's Director of Public Health said:-
"Breast milk really does give babies the best start, as it is all
that's needed for the 1st 6 months of life. It protects babies from
infections and diseases and has many benefits for both children and
mothers."
The graduation ceremony will be held at the children's play centre
Kidz Fantasy Land on Edge Lane. Now a Breastfeeding Welcome scheme, with a list of more than 150 places
that will accommodate and welcome families, is available at:-
AmazingBreastMilk.NHS.UK.
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Keeping warm is
on the menu
A community café, run by a
Liverpool Church, is hosting an event to help elderly and vulnerable
people keep warm in winter.
The Friday Morning Community Cafe at St David's Church, Childwall,
has run successfully for more than 2 years. It's success has
motivated the church, working with ward Councillors Jeremy Wolfson,
Ruth Hirschfield and Frank Hont, to look at opportunities to expand
the community facilities.
It will now include a monthly event, on the 1st Friday of each
month, for the benefit of the local community.
The 1st event takes place on Friday, 6 February 2015, from 10am to
12 noon, when helpful advice will be given out about the importance
on keeping warm, especially for the elderly and infirm, and getting
the best value out of the fuel used during winter time.
There will also be packs to take away for practical use to help keep
warm and using resources well.
The Reverend Robert Williams, Vicar of St David 's said:-
"When we decided to start the Friday café at St. David's, we did so
with the vision in mind of using the church facilities as a place
where people could meet socially, as well as a place that could be
used as a meeting point where information could be accessed. Working
together with the Childwall ward Councillors, who have given us
their full support, we hope that this new resource will be supported
by members of the local community and beyond."
Councillor Wolfson said:- "It is very important that we ensure
that elderly and vulnerable people in our community are kept safe
and warm throughout the winter; the recent cold spell has just
underlined this. As ward Councillors we have fully supported the
Friday café as it is a great way of providing information and
support and I would encourage local residents to take advantage of
it."
In future months the Friday Morning Cafe are planning to feature
dementia awareness, the credit union and debt, and the practical use
of computers for people in the community who are feeling excluded in
their everyday life.
Brooks announced
as event partner for Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon 2015
THE organisers of the
Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon are pleased to announce footwear,
apparel and accessories specialist Brooks as an official race
partner for the exciting event taking place on Sunday, 29 March,
2015. Brooks will be providing all finishers with their very own
Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon finishers' T-shirt as part of their
congratulatory goody bag. And all those completing the race, will
also be presented with a commemorative finishers' medal as they
cross the finishing line. Sara McMahon, Events and Retail
Marketing Coordinator at Brooks, said:- "Brooks are delighted
to be involved with Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon. The Vitality
Run Series has a close synergy with Brooks by inspiring people to be
active and we believe that the partnership will be a huge success.
We look forward to seeing you there on race day!" The
Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon will start and finish at the City's
Pier Head at the iconic Liverpool Waterfront, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. The route will also take runners past some of the
City's key landmarks including Albert Dock, Museum Of Liverpool,
Liverpool Cathedral, Sefton Park Palm House and Otterspool
Promenade. Last year's event was the 21st Anniversary of the
Liverpool Half Marathon, which attracted almost 7,000 runners
representing 21 overseas countries. This year's participants so far
include runners from European countries Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden, as well as a number of runners
travelling from further afield, representing Hong Kong and the USA.
Race Director Alan Rothwell added:- "To have Brooks on-board
as a race partner for this year's Liverpool Half Marathon is
fantastic news. The event is firmly established in the region's race
calendar and attracts a large contingent of runners who travel from
across the world to take part." To bag your very
own souvenir:- 'Brooks T-shirt', make the Vitality
Liverpool Half Marathon 'YOUR' challenge for 2015 by
visiting the BTR
website, where registrations
are open until Friday, 6 March 2015.
Other BTR Liverpool Events confirmed for 2015 so far:-
► 1 March 2015 - BTR Port Sunlight
10K/5K/Children's 1K Fun Run.
► 29 March 2015 - Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon.
► 5 April 2015 - BTR Hale Village 5 Mile.
► 19 April 2015 - Run For The 96 5K.
► 7 June 2015 - BTR Mersey Tunnel 10K.
► 5 July to 11 July 2015- BTR Tour Of Merseyside (52 miles).
► 11 September to 13 September 2015 - BTR Whistle Stop Tour Of
Wirral.
► 13 September 2015 - BTR Wirral Half Marathon/10K.
► 6 December 2015 - BTR Liverpool Santa Dash.
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