ERC initiatives to reduce the burden of cardiac arrest: the European Cardiac Arrest Awareness Day

Marios Georgiou; Andrew S Lockey

doi:10.1016/j.bpa.2013.07.004

ERC initiatives to reduce the burden of cardiac arrest: the European Cardiac Arrest Awareness Day

Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2013 Sep;27(3):307-15. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2013.07.004.

Authors

Marios Georgiou¹, Andrew S Lockey

Affiliation

¹ Nicosia General Hospital, 2029 Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus. Electronic address: mariogrn@spidernet.com.cy.

PMID: 24054509
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpa.2013.07.004

Abstract

The rate of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Europe remains unacceptably low and could be increased by better bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rates. The European Resuscitation Council has announced that there will be a European Cardiac Arrest Awareness Day every year on the 16th of October. This is to coincide with the goals of the Written Declaration passed by the European Parliament in June 2012 that emphasised the importance of equal access to CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training. The topic of this year's Awareness Day is 'Children Saving Lives' and it is hoped that all national resuscitation councils will promote awareness of the benefits of training all children in CPR and AED use and lobby for legislative change to ensure that all children receive this training. Children are not just the adults of tomorrow - they are the lifesavers of today and tomorrow.

Keywords: CPR; bystander; cardiac arrest; children.

MeSH terms

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / education
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / methods*
Child
Cost of Illness
Defibrillators
Europe / epidemiology
Health Education*
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Humans
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / epidemiology
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / mortality
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / therapy*
Survival Rate