Cardiac arrests are more common than you think, and they can happen to anyone at any time. Nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually and only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander. Failure to act in a cardiac emergency can lead to unnecessary deaths. In fact, less than eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive. On the other hand, effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim�s chance of survival.
Most people who experience cardiac arrest at home, work or in a public location die because they don't receive immediate CPR from someone on the scene. As a bystander, don't be afraid. Your actions can only help.
Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman Los Angeles Fire Department
Vinnie Jones' hard and fast Hands-only CPR
Vinnie Jones shows how hard and fast Hands-only CPR to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees can help save the life of someone who has had a cardiac arrest. The Hollywood hardman is starring in a British Heart Foundation TV advert urging more people to carry out CPR in a medical emergency.
