Since Christian Eriksson suffered a cardiac arrest at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament we have seen a significant increase in orders for the defibrillator boards that we supply.
According to the British Heart Foundation 30,000 cardiac arrests occur every year in the UK, outside a hospital setting, and 9 out of 10 are fatal. However, First Aid For Life report that survival rates can be as high as 50-70% with the use of a defibrillator when a shock is delivered within 3-5 minutes of the patient collapsing.
Therefore, having more defibrillators within the community, particularly in workplaces and public spaces, could save tens of thousands of lives every year. The beauty of defibrillators is that you don’t need to be trained to use one. Although the first course of action should always be to call 999, having easy access to a defibrillator is essential because for every minute’s delay in delivering a shock the patient’s chances of survival are reduced.
Defibrillators work by delivering a high voltage electric shock if it detects that someone has an abnormal but shockable rhythm. When you are using one, it tells you what to do, giving step-by-step instructions. The shock will stop the heart so that hopefully it will restart in a normal rhythm.
Having seen the increase in defibrillator PCB orders, our MD Alan Millard took the decision to purchase an in-house defibrillator for our own workplace. He says “I believe it is an important device to have close to hand in the case of an emergency”.
Costing around £1000, defibrillators are being purchased by businesses, sports teams and charities. Defibrillators should be registered with the National Defibrillator Database so that the ambulance service can direct someone to one in an emergency.
As well as surging defibrillator sales, requests for CPR training have increased too. Here are the steps required when someone goes into cardiac arrest, from the British Heart Foundation. In-person training is available too, from providers such as St John’s Ambulance service.
Once again, Photronix are proud to supply printed circuit boards for such important technologies and would encourage other workplaces to purchase and register a defibrillator. It could really make the difference between life and death.