Justin Tomlinson MP today welcomed the announcement by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) that the charity is teaming up with the Premier League and Sky Sports to help fill football stadiums with more life-savers, capable of helping someone who has had a cardiac arrest.
Following Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba’s collapse, the nation’s heart charity launched a new appeal on Friday, supported by the Premier League and its clubs, asking for help to train more people in emergency life support skills, including CPR.
It costs the charity around £5 to train someone with the skills to save a life.
The Life-saver appeal was launched at the 10 stadiums that hosted Barclays Premier League matches this weekend, including Bolton Wanderers’ Reebok Stadium. The BHF is urging fans of the beautiful game to text ‘CPR’ to 70030 and donate £5 to create another life-saver.
Louise Parkes, Director of Fundraising at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The collapse of Fabrice Muamba has shown just how important it is for more people to know how to use CPR to help someone who’s had a cardiac arrest.
“We want every seat in every stadium across the UK to be filled by someone who knows how to help in a medical emergency. That vision could become a reality because it costs just £5 to equip someone with the skills to save a life.
The BHF teaches simple skills that save lives, including assessing an unconscious patient, performing CPR, dealing with choking and serious bleeding, and helping some that may be having a heart attack.
Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Heart Disease and Honourary President of the Swindon British Heart Foundation, Justin Tomlinson MP, said “This is an excellent campaign that highlights the importance of basic life saving skills. As we saw with Fabrice Muamba, it is not just the elderly that can suddenly need life saving care. Cardiac arrest can affect even our top athletes and it is vital we train as many people as we can in the life saving skills that one day could just make the difference between life and death.”