How CPR-trained societies will save lives — and how to address resus inequalities

Professor Andy Lockey MBE

President, Resuscitation Council UK

Find out how a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)-trained society will save more lives, improve public health and enhance community resilience during emergencies.

Our report, ‘Every Second Counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation’, reveals the huge disparities between rich and poor, and people from different cultural backgrounds, when facing the ultimate medical emergency.

CPR knowledge and access disparities

We spoke to people from African, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities to understand their views and expectations about learning and performing CPR. Around 60% said they lacked the knowledge and skills to perform CPR, and 34% mentioned a lack of awareness of training opportunities.

Increasing CPR knowledge and training in underserved communities gives everyone an equal chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. Training resources must be tailored to people’s needs, where English may not be the primary language. Consideration must also be given to differences in technology literacy and digital access.

A lack of defibrillators

Defibs save lives, but our research suggests that they’re scarce in poorer parts of the UK. Almost half (44%) of these areas have no defibrillator registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network.

Increasing CPR knowledge and training in underserved communities gives everyone an equal chance of surviving a cardiac arrest.

We must change this by targeting public-access defibs in areas where the data tells us they’re needed most and ensure these devices are registered on The Circuit. This will be a significant step in reducing inequality and ensuring everyone has an equal chance of survival.

Closing the inequalities gap

We’ve made key recommendations for progress, and we’re asking decision-makers and our partners to work with us to adopt them. Collecting routine comprehensive data that effectivelyidentifies and targets out-of-hospital cardiac arrest hotspot areas will beinvaluable.

We also want CPR training to be part of the driver’s licence test and the DVSA’s Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) for motorcycles and mopeds. Around 180,000 moped and motorcycle drivers take the CBT test annually, which we believe could ensure greater CPR confidence in younger drivers, and many more from underserved communities.

Working together to save lives

Our success will require collaboration, commitment and ambition. We ask that Westminster and devolved governments work with us to fund a national public awareness campaign that targets CPR training in areas where it’s most needed. A CPR-trained society will save more lives, improve public health and enhance community resilience during emergencies.