Irish rate among the highest in Europe for attempted resuscitation of heart attack victims

Professor Conor Deasy, consultant in emergency medicine, says  patients who had CPR early have a far better chance of having a good neurological outcome. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

People in Ireland who witnessed a heart attack attempted to resuscitate the person in 84% of incidents last year, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Cork University Hospital consultant in emergency medicine Conor Deasy called on even more people to get training, saying it is likely to be a loved one at risk as 69% of heart attacks happened at home.

“We are one of the best preforming countries in Europe when it comes to delivering bystander CPR,” he said.

He also reassured people who might be anxious about using a community defibrillator, saying: “You can’t do harm, because the AED, the defibrillator, won’t administer the shock if it’s not a shockable rhythm.” 

Overall, 77% of cardiac arrests happened in private settings including homes, residential centres, and farms, the National Ambulance Service Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Register (OHCAR) report shows. Emergency services attended 2,802 incidents and 66% of patients were male.

“Any efforts at all at doing chest compressions are better than no efforts,” Dr Deasy, also chair of OHCAR, said.

“And you can’t do harm, that’s important in terms of messaging. Anything is better than nothing, and the technology in these AEDs is such that it won’t administer a shock if its not appropriate to.” 

Patients who had CPR early have a far better chance of having a good neurological outcome, he said. 

Best outcomes

“If a patient has had early bystander CPR it means that their brain would have been circulated with oxygenated blood so they will have a better outcome,” he said.

“They will have less of a brain injury as a consequence of having had their brain deprived of oxygen for a period of time, and where their heart wasn’t beating.”

The data also shows cardiac arrests can happen to anyone with patients ranging in age from less than one year to 101 years of age.

The National Ambulance Service supports a volunteer-led ‘Community First Responders’ service, including 42 in Cork, where anyone can learn how to deliver this potentially life-saving care.

“Members of the public defibrillated 282 patients, of whom 87 survived, 31%," he said. "This achievement emphasises the importance of Community First Responders and Public Access Defibrillators in saving lives.”

He advised people can find public defibrillators in former telephone boxes for example, such as those on the Crosshaven Road, Carrigaline or Ballyneety village, Limerick.