First CPR kiosk in an NHS hospital opens

First CPR kiosk in an NHS hospital opens

A kiosk which aims to help teach people how to keep someone alive if their heart stops has opened in Bradford.

The facility on the concourse of Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) is the first of its type in an NHS hospital.

Patients, visitors and hospital staff can use its inbuilt mannequin and screen guide to learn how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

There are around 3,300 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in Yorkshire, but only one in 13 of these people survive.

Eve Flockton, Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust's resuscitation training lead, said she could not stress how important a skill CPR was.

"It can save a life, simple as that," she said.

"Everyone should know how to do CPR effectively as you never know when you might need it.

"The chances are it could be someone you know as most cardiac arrests happen in the home or workplace."

Ms Flockton said performing CPR on someone would ensure "sufficient blood containing oxygen reached the brain, heart and other organs to keep the person alive for several minutes".

That, she added would buy time for an ambulance or other medical care to arrive.

Jørgen Moore, one of the trust's resuscitation officers, said they wanted to "treat and educate people".

"We don't just want to just educate our staff, but we also want to engage with the community and help educate the community here in Bradford."

There are around 60,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, half of which are witnessed by a bystander.

Dr David Robinson, the trust's director of education, said they were proud to be the first hospital in the UK to offer this "life-saving training in this way".

Around 59,000 people are living with heart and circulatory diseases in Bradford, leading to 110 deaths each month, he said.