At Direct365, we’re firm believers that life saving defibrillators should be readily available and much more accessible, wherever you are – at school, work, in public and eventually in the home.
A Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) can happen anywhere and around 90,000 people each year in the UK die from it. Whilst a Sudden Cardiac Arrest can happen to anyone; any size, height, gender, age or health, the risk of one is up to three times greater for competitive athletes whilst exercising in places like sports centres & gyms.
Fact: A Sudden Cardiac Arrest is not rare; but surviving it is.
The reason that Sudden Cardiac Arrest can be so deadly in a Sports Centre is because the people who are at risk are usually hard to spot. The most common cause of a SCA in youth athletes is a structural defect in the heart, or a problem with its circuitry. In most cases, this defect is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a genetic condition, where the muscle wall of your heart becomes thickened. It is present in around 1/500 people in the UK and most people who have it have very few symptoms.
The problem is that people with this condition have symptoms that are similar to those experienced whilst ‘working out’ – onsets of dizziness and shortness of breath. Unfortunately, sometimes an SCA during exercise may be the first sign of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. These are often dismissed amongst athletes or regular attendees of sports centres who are used to such symptoms after their workout.
Fact: The survival rate for SCA is less than 5% due to limited AED accessibility
Why should all Sports Centres have a defibrillator?
Installing defibrillators in Sports Centres around the UK could help to save thousands of lives every year by being readily available, accessible and easy to use. Many modern defibrillators are entirely automated, and the only action a rescuer would need to do is place the pads on a casualty’s chest as instructed by the defibrillator itself. From here, most defibrillators will also:
Guide you through what to do with the casualty
Check for signs of life
Start a metronome to help you count CPR compressions
Shock the casualty automatically; but only if they need it
Yesterday, the 17th of March, marked 2 years to the day that Fabrice Muamba suffered from a Sudden Cardiac Arrest during the first half of an FA Cup match between Bolton and Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
This incident gained worldwide exposure to the scary and very real truth behind Sudden Cardiac Arrests happening to anyone, at anytime, across the globe. It was only thanks to an AED Defibrillator and fast reacting doctors that Fabrice Survived.
If you would like to find out more about how a defibrillator can benefit your business, or learn more about the dangers of SCA and how you can reduce the risk, or simply for more information, view our Defibrillator information page.
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