Do you know CPR?

Would you know what to do if someone collapsed in front of you?

I believe knowing how to perform Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an essential skill for everybody – not just health professionals, but if you are lucky enough to be working alongside a sports team or an athlete then it is the most important tool you can possibly have.

The process of CPR helps keep blood and oxygen flowing around the body and dramatically increases the chances of survival in those who suffer a cardiac arrest. Once the heart stops beating, brain death can occur within 4-6 minutes. CPR provides that essential oxygen for the brain.

Here are some interesting statistics from the “Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry Annual Report 2016/2017” published by the St John Ambulance of New Zealand (NZ):

• 5 people per day were treated for an out of hospital cardiac arrest in NZ (31% Female, 69% male). That’s approximately 2000 people per year.
• 72% of these people received bystander CPR.
• The median time in which it took a St John Ambulance to reach the patient was 5 minutes in urban areas

This means, if you know CPR it can significantly increase someone’s chance of survival – and in many circumstances this could be the life of someone you love.

In NZ, the best resource for all things CPR is St John. They have a number of online videos and even a smartphone app to help you learn CPR and also how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

For all of these resources and more info on CPR please visit:

Official St John wensite: www.stjohn.org.nz

The St John CPR App:  www.stjohn.org.nz/cprapp

Learn how to do CPR and to use an AED: www.stjohn.org.nz/3stepsforlife

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