Tuesday October 7, 2021: St John Ambulance volunteers around the country are once again giving free demonstrations of life saving skills as part of the annual Restart a Heart campaign in October.  

Led by the Resuscitation Council UK, the partners in Restart a Heart include St John, The British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, NHS England and Improvement, Save a Life for Scotland, Save a Life Cymru, and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service 

While Restart a Heart Day is on Saturday 16 October, St John’s highly trained volunteers are arranging demos in locations around the country between 9 and 23 October, to give people opportunities to attend and learn essential first aid skills. 

Here is the list of events that are currently planned. 

For more information about a Restart a Heart event, or if you would like to book onto a Virtual or Face-to-Face CPR and AED session, please contact community.engagement@sja.org.uk.  

Each session is free to attend and includes practical information on how to understand the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack, how to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and how to deliver shocks to the heart with a defibrillator.  

Bystander CPR rates fell in some areas of the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic,. The aim of this year’s campaign is to resume training (both on- and offline), restore confidence in performing CPR and using a defibrillator, and reach people who may have found it challenging to access training resources, by making resources available in a range of languages. The participating organisations want to ensure that everyone has a chance to learn CPR - and that those having a sudden cardiac arrest have their best chance of survival. 

Dr Lynn Thomas, Medical Director at St John Ambulance, said: “We didn’t have to ask our volunteers twice about supporting this year’s Restart a Heart campaign. They are keen, especially after the last 18 months, to get back out there, face-to-face or online, and upskill their friends, families and neighbours in these vital first aid techniques. 

“A cardiac arrest can happen any time and without warning so ensuring that people have that knowledge when confronted with a heart-related emergency is vital and increases the chances of saving a life. Coupled with this, we are concerned that as many members of the public as possible regain the confidence to deliver bystander CPR to casualties when they are most in need of support.”