City Centre Ambassadors qualified to use life saving equipment

 

Sheffield City centre Ambassadors are now qualified in the use of emergency defibrillator equipment, which increases heart attack survival rates by 40%. The Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust presented the Ambassadors with their first defibrillator earlier this year.  The equipment will be kept in the Winter Garden, and be used to respond to life-threatening calls within a five-minute radius of the Winter Garden providing vital care in the first few minutes before the arrival of an ambulance.

 

All Ambassadors have first aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training as part of the role and now in addition to this they will undergo a training course provided by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service which includes the use of Automatic Electronic Defibrillator (AED), basic life support, scene and casualty assessment and familiarisation of medical conditions.

At the end of the training each Ambassadors is given a test scenario with a dummy body to assess their reaction to the situation, and to ensure the equipment is used correctly.

 

Defibrillator equipment is used when a person suffers a heart attack and the heart needs to be started artificially re-started. Research from the Department of Health shows as many as 1 in 5 people who suffer from heart attacks do so in public places.  In these types of situations speed of response and access to the correct equipment is vital to increase the chance of survival.

 

The award-winning Winter Garden was chosen as the home for the equipment as it is central to one of the busiest areas of the city centre, and welcomes more than one million visitors through its doors each year.  The garden is also easily accessed and has a lockable room in which the equipment can be safely stored.

 

David Smith, Community Defibrillation Officer at Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: “We are delighted to work with the Sheffield Council City Centre Ambassadors on this scheme. By working in partnership, providing training and equipment, we can increase the number of people in public places able to deal with heart attacks and cardiac arrests providing a vital life-saving link between the victim and the arrival of an ambulance crew.

“In cases of cardiac arrest, a patient’s heart literally stops – without defibrillation their chance of survival decreases by 10% every minute that goes by. The Ambassadors are trained to use defibrillators and can therefore provide this vital intervention.”

 

Councillor Steve Jones, Deputy Leader said: “City Centre Ambassadors are essential to the enjoyment of our many visitors to the city centre.  We want visitors to Sheffield to feel safe and although we hope no one does suffer from a heart attack in the city centre, it is great to know we have access to such specialised training and equipment.”