Medicash has won a Silver Cardiac Smart Award from North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, in recognition of its CardiACT campaign.
The CardiACT campaign has resulted in 55 new defibrillators installed across the North West, mainly in the Liverpool area. And to date, 317 people from Liverpool companies have received confidence building training from North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).
Sue Weir, Chief Executive of Medicash, said:
The CardiACT campaign is an important lifesaving initiative. Our initial aim was to ensure that no individual is more than two minutes away from a defibrillator within Liverpool City Centre. We are proud of what we have achieved and this award from the North West Ambulance Service is a tremendous boost for us and also our partners who have worked with us to make CardiACT a success.
Robert Hussey, Community Resuscitation Manager at NWAS, said: “Our Cardiac Smart Awards recognise individuals and organisations who have dedicated time to raising awareness of heart health, basic life support and defibrillators in their local communities. Medicash deserve this award for their commitment to actively working to get more defibrillators in public places. I am proud to award them our Silver Cardiac Smart Award.”
He added: “NWAS is a strong supporter of defibrillators (AEDs) in public places and we are keen to see more people confident in using them. There’s no clinical training needed to use an AED – the machine speaks instructions of what to do and when to do it – and this is key message in the confidence building training we provide. To support the long term sustainability of the CardiAct campaign we are now teaching Medicash staff to deliver the training themselves.”
According to the British Heart Foundation there is one heart attack every three minutes in the UK. Evidence shows the chances of survival from a cardiac arrest are up to 80 per cent if a defibrillator is used within that time. Without one, the chances of survival are between two and five per cent.
The CardiAct campaign is designed to allow organisations to purchase discounted defibrillators and access training for staff in how to use them. Businesses, BID companies and community groups are encouraged to share the cost and promote the sharing of existing defibrillators between neighbouring organisations. It was first launched in July 2015 with support from the Liverpool BID Company and NWAS. Since then, other BID companies including Astmoor, Halebank, and Halton Chamber of Commerce have got involved to extend the campaign across the North West.
Anyone interested in getting involved in the CardiAct campaign, or securing a discounted defibrillator for their organisation, can email [email protected]