CPR is something we should all be confident in.
While we all know the importance it carries, how many of us could actually step up to the plate in an emergency situation?
May 11th marks the Irish Heart Foundations Happy Hearts Appeal, when volunteers across the country will be taking to the streets to raise funds so that the charity can continue to provide vital services like their CPR training programmes.
In Ireland, over 5,000 lives are lost every year to sudden cardiac death. That's a devastating 13 lives lost every day. Without CPR or defibrillation, the chance of a person's survival falls by up to 10 percent a minute.
If you can provide CPR, however, and can perform it on someone in need, you can actually double, if not triple, a person’s chance of survival.
Volunteers across Ireland will be taking to the streets to raise money for the incredible cause.
On May 11th, people from all over Ireland will be giving up just a few hours of their time to take part in bucket collections and other events run to help raise what's needed to carry out this incredible work.
As heart disease and stroke touches the lives of so many people in Ireland, the charity are calling for people to register as a volunteer.
Speaking about the importance of the initiative, Irish Heart Foundation's Resuscitation Expert, Brigid Sinnott, said "If you are a bystander when this happens and are willing to do something you could make a difference as early CPR can double if not triple their chance of survival."
She explained "Learning CPR in a course can give confidence in knowing what to do when faced with a collapse and we know that anyone who has done a CPR course at any stage in their life is 10 times more likely to respond and assist in such an emergency."
About 5000 people in Ireland die from sudden cardiac arrest each year – that’s 13 lives lost every day. The Irish Heart Foundation urgently need to raise over €300k to train people in CPR. The more people who know CPR, the more lives can be saved.
To volunteer for their Happy Heart Appeal on May 11th, head here.
