LOCAL HEROES Rob and Maggie Underwood are overjoyed at the release of new figures revealing more people that suffer a cardiac arrest in the West Midlands are surviving than ever before.
The Underwoods, who tied the knot last Saturday (December 5), run the Charlotte and Craig Saving Hearts Foundation, formerly known as Redditch Heart Safe, and campaign tirelessly to equip schools and communities with life-saving defibrillators.
Thanks to the charity, every school in Redditch now has one of these life-saving kits and the Underwoods are currently working to equip schools across the Dudley borough.
Last year (2014 – 15) West Midlands Ambulance Service staff attempted resuscitation on over 4,000 patients and better still, the number that arrived at hospital who were breathing for themselves – rose by 223 compared to the previous year.
In total, staff and volunteers tried to resuscitate 4,040 patients who had a pre-hospital cardiac arrest and over a quarter of them (1,150) arrived at hospital breathing for themselves.
“This is fantastic news,” said Rob. “It really proves the point and shows that more and more people are getting involved and that immediate intervention really does help.”
Dr Andy Carson, medical director at the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust agreed.
He said: “This is a tremendous achievement and cannot be underestimated. If we look back just two years, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of people arriving at hospital breathing for themselves.
“These figures are a real indication of the improvements made across the region.”
The Charlotte and Craig Saving Hearts Foundation will hold its Christmas Showcase tomorrrow, Saturday (December 19) at Studley Road Social Club.
