Aroundtown Magazine January/February 2024 edition

HEALTH & BEAUTY
Are you prepared
to save a life?
Would you know how to help
someone having a medical
emergency?
Someone has a heart attack every five minutes.
One in five of us will witness someone needing
CPR after collapsing. But most people don’t act
on it.
Only 30 percent of people receive bystander
CPR. That hesitancy is often because of no first
aid training, lack of confidence, or fear of making
the situation worse.
But every minute is vital in ensuring survival.
Around 90 percent of people who have a heart
attack out of hospital will die; immediate CPR can
double or even quadruple survival rates.
First aid is a skill that everyone should learn.
In a bid to ensure there is a first aider on every
street, the Community Save a Life Scheme
(CSALS) offers free first aid courses to the public.
You can complete the course online in around
an hour. Around 12,000 people have already
done the course, as far away as America,
Australia, Indian and Vietnam.
In the summer, taking the course paid off for
one man in Dronfield who saved the life of his
walking football teammate. When 75-year-old
Mel Pullen collapsed on the pitch, Rob Church
stepped in to perform CPR, having passed the
CSALS course just weeks earlier. Despite being
unconscious for 11 minutes, Mel survived thanks
to Rob’s skills and effort in resuscitation.
Hearing lives have been saved is the
motivation to keep going for John Hutchinson
Its easy-to-use format
“
suits any style and standard
of learning. Children as
young as ten have completed
the course
”
and Dr Cheryle Berry MBE who instigated the
idea of the charity in 2010. Having met while
volunteering at St John Ambulance Service,
the duo initially worked under the British
Heart Foundation name but are now a
standalone charity.
Lead trainer John, originally from Sheffield
but now living in the Peak District, was a St John
Ambulance cadet in his youth. He joined the army
at 16 where he led the annual first aid course
throughout his 26-year service. He then joined
the army’s prison and probation service where
he delivered first aid training to inmates and staff.
After retirement, John dedicated his time to St
John Ambulance as a volunteer and has trained
all the community first responders in Derbyshire
and East Midlands.
Charity chair Cheryle had seen a long
career in education, first as a head teacher
before becoming director of education in
Middlesborough and then Lincolnshire. She is
also the chair of St John Ambulance Derbyshire.
They are joined by a team of trustees that
include a retired GP, a paramedic, a retired
management accountant, and staff from the
British Heart Foundation.
CSALS set a Guinness World Record in 2016
for the largest first aid lesson; 1,795 people took
to the pitch at Chesterfield FC’s home ground as
John led the training session.
In 2018, CSALS launched their online course at
Westminster that had kindly been developed for
free by Ilkley-based Virtual College. Having this
digital training programme means that the charity
has been able to reach out to people across the
country and indeed on a global basis.
There are five sections to complete, with a mix
of interactive quizzes and timed elements. There
is also the option for commentary or self-led
reading. You’ll learn how to perform the gold
standard of CPR which is mouth-to-mouth and
chest compressions. The course also looks at
the correct way to put a person in the recovery
position and use a defibrillator. Once finished,
you can print off a certificate of your achievement.
Its easy-to-use format suits any style and
standard of learning. Children as young as ten
have completed the course and John says the
team are hoping to work with education providers
to offer the course to students and their families.
Another success story is that of a 14-year-old
boy who saved his dad’s life after he collapsed
playing squash. John says the charity still has a
letter from the boy’s mum thanking them for the
course, without which her husband wouldn’t be
here today.
John also delivers practical courses in-person
to groups of six or more in return for a donation to
their charity. In this two-hour, video-led course, he
teaches various situations where first aid may be
needed such as bleeding, choking and stroke.
Even if you have already completed a formal
first aid course, it’s important to keep refreshing
your skills. Skill erosion is a major issue in CPR.
This season, they are also a charity partner
for Sheffield United FC, John’s lifelong club,
and have delivered first aid training to the club’s
community foundation.
Companies can also show their support for the
charity by joining their 999 Appeal. For a donation
of £999, businesses are eligible for a practical
course for 12 people which they can use for their
staff or gift it to another organisation.
For more information about CSALS,
visit www.csals.co.uk
To take the free online course, visit www.
virtual-college.co.uk/prepared
To find out more about the 999 Appeal,
email community facilitator, Debra Johnson
debra@csals.co.uk
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk 11