Keep The Beats is a dedicated fund within The North Wales NHS charity, Awyr Las, which provides enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds.

About Keep The Beats

Keep The Beats is run by frontline staff and cardiac patients, who understand better than anyone else that spending a little extra money on a service can make a huge difference.

A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating.

CPR and the use of a defibrillator before the ambulance arrives doubles the chance of survival
Early data is suggesting that in BCUHB 75% of people who have a cardiac arrest do not receive CPR before medical help arrives
In Wales, survival rates have been reported as being as low as 3%
That's compared to other countries who have survival rates are as high as 25%

Keep The Beats wants everyone in North Wales to understand how to perform basic CPR and operate a defibrillator, as it’s the only way to re-establish the hearts natural heart beat and help save lives.

Every second counts. If you don’t do something, the chance of survival will decrease, every minute by 10%. Keep The Beats is supporting its North Wales community with CPR and defibrillator training and is asking people like you to be aware of where their nearest community defibrillator is and be prepared to “give CPR a try and not just walk on by”.

We are establishing a nation of lifesavers and improving the first three links of the chain of survival, supporting the Welsh Government initiative Save a life Cymru: http://www.savealifecymru.wales

Remember!

When you find someone that has collapsed if it safe to do so:

Check response by gently shaking their shoulders and asking if they are ok
Gently tilt the head back and check if they are breathing
Call 999 and ask for an ambulance
If not breathing, start chest compressions - push hard and fast in the centre of the chest and continue until the ambulance arrives
When you dial 999, the ambulance operator will tell you where your nearest defibrillator is and if needed, they will tell you the key code, to open it
Never stop CPR - send someone else to get the defibrillator
Defibrillators are semi-automatic devices that helps someone in a cardiac arrest
Get the nearest one and take it to the patient
The defibrillator will talk to you giving step-by-step instructions
Community defibrillators do not require any kind of training and they will help a lot in a cardiac arrest situation
You will need to keep doing CPR even if the defibrillator was used - just follow the instructions that the machine provides
And don’t forget - when the heart stops beating, every second counts