Friday 22 November 2024
 5°C   NE Fresh Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Health / Kaylee enlists help of furry friends to promote CPR

A LOCAL ambulance technician has launched a campaign to encourage more people to learn about basic life support training such as CPR – with her well-known dogs the star of the show.

Kaylee Garrick, who lives in Scalloway, hopes that using her many pooches in the campaign will help to catch people’s attention, as well as strip back any fears people may have of learning CPR.

Her Don’t Paws, Start CPR Facebook page already features an instructional video of her well-trained dog Fenton carrying out life-saving CPR on a mannequin.

Superdog CPR!

Its a ridiculous video, but for a serious cause – watch as Fenton saves the day by performing CPR. You don’t have to be a superdog to save a life!

Posted by Don’t PAWS, start CPR on Monday, 8 July 2019

Garrick is well known in the public eye for her photos of her army of camera-friendly dogs, but as her day job she works for the ambulance service in Shetland.

She said it has been evident to her that effective CPR being carried out on people suffering a cardiac arrest prior to an ambulance arriving can make a huge difference.

Kaylee’s dogs, which have been the subject of an exhibition at the Gilbert Bain Hospital. Photo: Kaylee Garrick

CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, involves chest compressions and artificial ventilation to help pump blood around the person’s body when their heart is not able to.

“Throughout my years in the service, I have witnessed many cardiac arrests with both good and sad outcomes,” Garrick said.

“But one thing that has been very apparent to me in these circumstances is the difference in the patient’s outcome when effective CPR has begun prior to the ambulance arrival.

Become a member of Shetland News

 

“I find it very troubling how many incidents I have attended where no form of life support has begun and to see how fearful people are in the absence of knowledge on what to do in a cardiac arrest scenario.

“Shetland is very lucky to have a number of community based defibrillators and yet there are still many who fail to recognise them or see the importance in learning what is a very simple but life-saving skill. You never know – it could be your loved one who needs it next.”

Kaylee said the UK has on average a seven per cent out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rate, but in Scandinavia this figure is closer to 20 per cent – possibly because CPR is taught in schools and information on cardiac arrests is more widely known.

Kaylee Garrick.

Earlier this year, however, Shetland Islands Council signed up for a national British Heart Foundation programme which will see the isles’ secondary school pupils being taught CPR.

“While CPR is an easy skill to learn, the subject and reality of death surrounding the issue is not an easy one to cope with for most, especially if you have lost a loved one and witnessed a crew performing chest compressions for yourself,” Garrick added.

“It can also be scary for children to see on a dummy too. So, I wanted to take away from this by using the dogs to alleviate some of this fear. It’s time we started talking and taking action – knowing what to do and doing something about it is far better than the regret and thought of ‘could I have saved them?’”

For more information on CPR, visit here.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.