CPR and Defibrillator Training Will and Sarah Walker-Smith
April 2024
There was a good turn out for the Training Evening in the Village Hall which was an update for some and a first for others. The trainer for the evening was the very experienced Anne Hine who has been involved in training with British Red Cross for many years, so we were in very good hands.
Before we got down to the actual nuts and bolts of CPR techniques and use of the defibrillators, Anne ran through a few facts and figures about our local resources. You will be pleased and probably astounded with the figure.
There are 17 defibrillators in Tavistock, 2 in Brentor, 2 in Mary Tavy and now every primary school has one. The defibrillator on the town hall has already saved 3 lives. The more modern ones have an SD card which records what was happening when it is being used, the first responders on arrival put it into their own electronic device and it communicates with whichever hospital A and E department the patient will be transferred to, thus giving the receiving team a good idea of the condition of their soon to arrive patient.
Anne then took us through the CPR techniques , what to do initially, communication with the casualty , tilting back the head to clear the airway, chest compressions, mouth to mouth and when to commence with the Defibrillator.
The fact that the Defibrillator talks one through the procedure is truly amazing and if you do have a signal and have dialled 999 the operative will also talk you through what to do. Anne ran through what is in the defibrillator box, scissors, razor, gloves, swabs etc , what they were for and why /when to use them. Where to apply the pads which provide the shock to help the heart back into its normal rhythm.
.The Defibrillator will not begin to work if the heart is OK, but will give clear instructions if it is required eg..” Stay Clear or Stand up and Stand Back “ if it is about to apply the “shock”, most machines carry enough charge for up to 100 shocks!
After the demonstration some people tried their CPR techniques on the dummies that Anne had brought along and realised what hard work it is to keep going at 110 compressions per minute, but as Anne explained, you have a 70% better chance of surviving if the CPR is given, so it’s so important to get on with it straight away before the defibrillator arrives!
This was a very important and informative evening , hopefully we may never need to do either CPR or use a Defibrillator, but I personally feel more confident after my update and I think everyone else did as well.