Stewart, one of our previous course participants, in fact he’s been to four, was called by his neighbour yesterday to say that her husband was experiencing severe chest pains. She knew that Stewart had trained in CPR  so, after first dialling 999, knew that he was ‘the man’.

Stewart immediately went into action and found his neighbour was conscious and, although CPR was not required, he was able to manage the situation until the ambulance arrived. The victim was taken to hospital and had life-saving stents inserted to relieve the coronary artery blockages.

Although CPR was not required on this occasion it raises the important question of ‘what if?’

What if the neighbour’s heart attack had developed into a cardiac arrest and they didn’t know that a skilled person lived next door? We know that ambulance crews can rarely arrive in time to successfully resuscitate such victims and solely rely on giving instructions over the phone to, hopefully capable, bystanders. It’s far better if a trained person can be at the scene.

Please don’t find yourself in a WHAT IF? situation.