Beds FRS: Learn CPR and fire safety with Ambulance and Fire and Rescue Services

The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) and Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service are running an event which aims to make the local community of Luton safer.

The public is invited to the community event at Luton Fire Station on Studley Road from 10am to 4pm on Wednesday 16 October 2024.

Paramedics and volunteers from EEAST will teach CPR and how to use a defibrillator, while firefighters will run sessions on fire prevention and safety. 

The event is being held on Restart a Heart Day, an initiative led by Resuscitation Council UK. Restart a Heart Day aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by helping more people learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR.

EEAST responds to around 4,000 patients in cardiac arrest each year and good-quality CPR greatly increases a patient’s chances of survival.

Survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK remain stubbornly low, with fewer than one in 10 people surviving. 

Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces a person’s chance of survival by 10%. This demonstrates the importance of early bystander CPR before the ambulance service arrives on scene. 

80 per cent of cardiac arrests happen at home so learning CPR could mean that you are helping a loved one’s chances of survival.

Jennifer Geary, paramedic at EEAST who will be leading the basic life support training, said: “It’s great to be working with our colleagues at Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service on this community event.

“Community engagement is so important in improving health outcomes and we look forward to teaching these lifesaving skills.  

“By teaching more people CPR, alongside the fire prevention and safety sessions, we will be helping make our local community safer.”

Rob Hulatt, Head of Prevention and Protection for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We’ve been working with EEAST on a number of initiatives so the opportunity to expand this partnership to helping educate local communities on saving lives and making homes safer is fantastic.

“We are very much look forward to welcoming local communities to our fire station and delivering vital home fire safety advice and information.”