John Leech MP Backs Heart Campaign - And Urges Constituents To Sign Up Too!

12.00.00am GMT Sat 20th Jan 2007

John Leech MP Backs British Heart Foundation's Campaign for Prompt Action When Heart Trouble Strikes

John Leech, Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, today backed a British Heart Foundation (BHF) campaign to raise awareness of the warning signs of a heart attack, urging Withington constituents not to delay calling 999 if they experience chest pain.

John Leech threw his weight behind the charity's 'Doubt Kills' campaign, after attending a BHF event at the House of Commons. His support comes as new figures were released by the BHF showing that fewer than one in ten of the general public have the skills to save a life (1).

A poll conducted for the BHF (1) shows around a quarter of the UK population have received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in the last five years. But when healthcare professionals and others who have received training as part of their job are discounted, just 7% of the general public in the North West have been trained voluntarily.

The BHF is using the findings to urge more people to sign up to free Heartstart UK courses - which will not only increase the numbers able to save a life, but also increase general awareness of the symptoms of a heart attack and what to do if you have one.

John Leech MP said:

"We often hear stories about when people should not call 999, but it is crucial that people are also told when they should call 999. Chest pain is one such occasion, because it could be a heart attack - and nobody is going to be upset with you if it turns out to be a false alarm."

"This is an important campaign from the BHF as it has the potential to save many lives in South Manchester. People in the area should also be armed with the skills to save a life should they be with someone when the worst happens - which is why I would urge anyone to sign up for a free Heartstart UK course."

At the House of Commons event, John Leech met one person who already owes his life to the campaign. Father of two Alec Keep would have died at home alone from a cardiac arrest had he not been prompted to call 999 by the BHF campaign.

Alec, 65, experienced chest pain while driving home, and says he would have tried to battle through it had his journey not taken him past the charity's poster advert showing a man with a belt tightening around his chest. Once home, Alec called 999 - and within minutes of the paramedics arriving, he suffered a cardiac arrest, and would have died without their immediate treatment.

Alec said:

"I can't thank the BHF and the paramedics enough for saving my life. If I hadn't seen that advert, I probably would have just sat there waiting for the pain to go away. I'd have had the cardiac arrest at home and that would have been the end of me."

Katharine Peel, Head of Emergency Life Support at the BHF, says:

"We're really grateful for John Leech MP's support. Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer, with someone suffering a heart attack every two minutes, so this is a problem none of us can afford to ignore (2)."

"About a third of heart attack victims die before reaching hospital because they go into cardiac arrest. Performing CPR can buy vital extra minutes and keep them alive until paramedics or a community responder arrives."

"The more people we can teach emergency life support skills, the more people will be aware of the symptoms of a heart attack. This in turn will hopefully mean people will react quicker if they or a family member suffer chest pain or other heart attack symptoms."

The BHF is also calling for emergency life support training to be made a standard part of every child's education across the UK, to ensure an entire generation of children are exposed to vital lifesaving skills such as CPR.

For more information, and to find a course in your area, visit bhf.org.uk/heartstart or email heartstart@bhf.org.uk. If you do not have email or internet access, call 020 7487 7115.

(1) CPR omnibus survey of 6,118 UK adults, conducted for BHF by TNS, October 2006.

(2) British Heart Foundation coronary heart disease statistics 2006.

• Heartstart UK is an initiative co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to teach members of the public what to do in a life-threatening emergency; simple skills that save lives. In the ten years the initiative has been running, more than 1 million people have been trained through schemes in the community and in schools.

• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a lifesaving procedure involving compression of the chest wall to stimulate blood flow by pumping the heart, alternating with mouth to mouth breathing to provide oxygen.

• Emergency Life Support (ELS) is a set of actions required to keep someone alive in a life-threatening emergency

• The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is leading the battle against heart and circulatory disease - the UK's biggest killer. The Charity is a major funder and authority in cardiovascular research. It plays an important role in funding education, both of the public and of health professionals, and in providing life-saving cardiac equipment and support for rehabilitation and care.

• For more information on the BHF, visit www.bhf.org.uk.