NEW FIGURES show more people that suffer a cardiac arrest in the West Midlands are surviving than ever before.
Last year (2014-15) West Midlands Ambulance Service staff attempted resuscitation on over 4,000 patients, a significant rise on the previous year. Better still, the number that arrived at hospital who were breathing for themselves (Return of Spontaneous Circulation – ROSC) rose by 223 compared to the previous year.
In total, Trust staff and volunteers tried to resuscitate 4,040 patients that had had a pre-hospital cardiac arrest. Over a quarter of them – 1,150 – arrived at hospital with a ROSC.
Trust Medical Director, Dr Andy Carson, said: “This is a tremendous achievement and cannot be underestimated. If we look back just two years, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of ROSCs at hospital.
“To achieve such an improvement has taken a lot of skill and hard work by staff and volunteers.
“Our research suggests that part of the reason for the rise is that staff have been able to use their advanced skills more often due to a rise in the number of members of the public who are prepared to have a go at CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) and also the increase in the number of public access defibrillators available for them to use.
“These figures are a real indication of the improvements made across the region. Please accept my thanks for all that you are doing to achieve such a result.”