Science company staff in Huddersfield took time away from their desks to learn how to save a life by brushing up on vital CPR skills.
Employees at Lubrizol in Leeds Road in Huddersfield took part in first aid awareness sessions delivered by St John Ambulance – a charity that the company has chosen to support for two years across all its UK sites.
More than 30,000 cardiac arrests take place outside of hospital in the UK every year. But less than one in ten people survive, often because those around them don’t have the skills or confidence to perform CPR, or have access to a defibrillator.
When someone is in cardiac arrest their heart has stopped beating, and every minute without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10%, while early CPR and defibrillation can more than double survival rates.
At Lubrizol’s plant in Huddersfield, and its UK technical centre in Derbyshire, staff were invited to sign up for CPR awareness sessions on-site, giving them the opportunity to learn current best practice and hone their skills using adult and child dummies.
Sinead Quinn, toll manufacturing & intracompany planner at Lubrizol’s Huddersfield plant, said: “Our instructor from St John Ambulance made the training really fun, and light-hearted. I’m a first aider already so know how important it is to know what to do in an emergency, should you be in that situation.”
Adam Greenwood, community engagement manager for St John Ambulance, said: “We want everyone to have the confidence to know what to do in an emergency, learn first aid and have access to lifesaving devices like defibrillators – so more lives can be saved each year.
“Simple first aid techniques, like recognising a cardiac arrest and starting chest compressions, can really make all the difference in an emergency.
“We’re so pleased staff at Lubrizol have taken the time to learn these essential lifesaving skills, and we thank them for their continued support towards our charity.”
