Stansted Airport passengers benefit from life-saving skills training thanks to Essex and Herts Air Ambulance
Air ambulance professionals delivered life-saving lessons to hundreds of passengers flying out of Stansted Airport.
Critical care paramedics, doctors, charity staff and volunteers from Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) provided free training sessions over a 12-hour period in the airside shopping area, teaching almost 800 travellers and airport workers how to treat someone suffering a cardiac arrest.
The exercise on Wednesday (Oct 16) was part of National Restart a Heart Day, a global initiative led by the Resuscitation Council which aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by equipping more individuals with life-saving CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) skills.
From 7am until 7pm, passengers at Stansted waiting for their gates to open had the chance to learn the essential steps to take when faced with someone suffering a cardiac arrest.
They got to practise chest compressions and learn how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) – both crucial skills for saving lives.
For one Stansted worker, the event held particular significance. Alison Newman, who works for Skytanking at the airport and lives in Bishop’s Stortford, suffered a cardiac arrest at home in August 2022.
Her daughter heard her collapse, called for help and began to give CPR until the emergency services and an Essex and Herts Air Ambulance arrived.
Alison said of the initiative: “I just think it’s amazing! People are willing to learn CPR but it’s not something that comes into their conscious mind, to actually go and book it. So the fact that they’re going on holiday or going away and they can give 5 or 10 minutes of their time and learn a really, really useful skill is brilliant.”
Adam Carr, EHAAT’s clinical community lead and a critical care paramedic, said: “Restart a Heart Day is all about empowering as many people as possible to take action in an emergency.
“Our goal was to ensure that more people feel confident and prepared to help if someone experiences a cardiac arrest. We were thrilled to bring this crucial training to the many travellers passing through the airport.”
Anita Harrison, customer operations director at Stansted, added: “Airports are bustling places and it’s vital to have individuals trained to respond quickly to medical emergencies. Our customer service team serves as our first responders in the terminal, but it’s important to note that learning CPR is very simple and only takes a few minutes.
“We hope this event inspired passengers to take a moment to acquire a life-saving skill that could one day save someone’s life. Our commitment to passenger safety is of utmost importance, and by supporting EHAAT and raising awareness about CPR, we hope to make a significant impact in saving lives.”
EHAAT says that with about 35,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring annually in the UK – around 96 a day – widespread CPR knowledge is critical. Around 80% of these happen in the home. The chance of survival is less than one in 10 and every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by 10%.
A survey found that 37% of people wouldn’t feel very confident helping someone having a cardiac arrest, while 24% said they wouldn’t be confident at all. Only 11% of people surveyed said they felt totally confident using a defibrillator correctly, 15% of people mistakenly believe that only trained medical professionals are allowed to use a defibrillator.
EHAAT is a charity that provides a helicopter emergency medical service for the critically ill and injured in Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas. Its teams of two pilots, a pre-hospital care doctor and a critical care paramedic last year attended 2,705 missions at a cost of around £2,800 per call-out.
Photos courtesy of Essex and Herts Air Ambulance
