Elsevier

Resuscitation

Volume 128, July 2018, Pages 188-190
Resuscitation

Commentary and concepts
“All citizens of the world can save a life” — The World Restart a Heart (WRAH) initiative starts in 2018

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2018.04.015Get rights and content

Abstract

“All citizens of the world can save a life”. With these words, the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) is launching the first global initiative – World Restart a Heart (WRAH) – to increase public awareness and therefore the rates of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for victims of cardiac arrest. In most of the cases, it takes too long for the emergency services to arrive on scene after the victim’s collapse. Thus, the most effective way to increase survival and favourable outcome in cardiac arrest by two- to fourfold is early CPR by lay bystanders and by “first responders”. Lay bystander resuscitation rates, however, differ significantly across the world, ranging from 5 to 80%. If all countries could have high lay bystander resuscitation rates, this would help to save hundreds of thousands of lives every year. In order to achieve this goal, all seven ILCOR councils have agreed to participate in WRAH 2018. Besides schoolchildren education in CPR (“KIDS SAVE LIVES”), many other initiatives have already been developed in different parts of the world. ILCOR is keen for the WRAH initiative to be as inclusive as possible, and that it should happen every year on 16 October or as close to that day as possible. Besides recommending CPR training for children and adults, it is hoped that a unified global message will enable our policy makers to take action to address the inequalities in patient survival around the world.

Section snippets

Web links

Further already existing information, videos, presentations, curricula and concepts on lay resuscitation initiatives, school children education in resuscitation and ERAHD can be found here:

www.erc.edu.

www.ilcor.org/wrah.

www.lifesaver.org.uk.

https://kids-save-lives.net/.

www.grc-org.de.

https://www.ircouncil.it/.

https://www.resus.org.uk.

www.einlebenretten.de.

www.wiederbelebung.de.

http://www.wosp.org.pl/uczymy-ratowac/rekord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yf4umHnD3c.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYlvdUcGjz0

Conflicts of interest

Bernd W. Böttiger is European Resuscitation Council (ERC) Board Director Science and Research; Associated Editor, European Journal of Anaesthesiology (EJA); Speakers honorarium from Medupdate, FoMF, Baxalta, Bayer Vital, Zoll, Bard; Chairman, German Resuscitation Council (GRC); Board Member, German Society of Interdisciplinary Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI); Associated Editor, Resuscitation. Maaret Castren is the Honorary Secretary of ILCOR. Andrew Lockey is Honorary Secretary of

Acknowledgements

We cordially thank all colleagues, ministers, politicians, teachers, women and men, children, organizations, medical societies und business entities who have supported and will support the ILCOR “World restart a heart” initiative and other initiatives all over the world. Bernd W. Böttiger and Gavin Perkins are supported by the ERC Research NET.

References (16)

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