AFL London - Defibrillator fundraiser

**AFL London Fundraiser - Supplying an Automated External Defibrillator to each of the 8 clubs**

A sudden cardiac arrest can happen at any time. Drawing from Australian statistics over 75% of these events occur outside of a hospital setting. Because of this, around the UK and Europe access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are becoming much more common. You'll see them now at most public transport stations, shopping centres, attached to city walls and even see disused traditional red phone boxes turned into storage spaces for AEDs.

Ensuring easy access to AEDs saves lives, and if someone is experiencing a cardiac arrest time is a crucial factor in giving them the best chance of survival. Stats will show that every minute that passes results in a 10% drop in the chances of survival

In AFL London, immediate access to an AED is not common at most of the playing and training grounds for the 8 clubs, and we want to change that. We want to enable each club to provide their members and supporters the safety of having an AED on hand, ready to use to save a life. And we need your help to do it.

It is simple, easy & safe for ANYONE, regardless of prior training, to apply an AED & follow the voice instructions.

AEDs:

• are automated & easy to use with Voice Prompt Instructions

• are safe & reliable and cannot be used inappropriately – an AED must first be applied to the casualty. It will then detect a lethal heart rhythm & will not deliver a shock to a normal heart rhythm,

• have inbuilt computer chips to analyse the rhythms instantly and accurately, making it possible for non-professionals to administer aid without risking accidental shock

• have a dramatic impact on survival of Sudden Cardiac Arrest victims

• without early defibrillation less than 5% of Sudden Cardiac Arrest victims survive

• with defibrillation within the first few minutes, potential survival rate can dramatically increase to over 70%

Why is early defibrillation vital?:

• Someone who suddenly collapses and is unconscious, not responding and not breathing is in cardiac arrest.

• Sudden Cardiac Arrest occurs when the heart's normal electrical impulses are interrupted, causing the heart to malfunction & 'quiver' instead of contract or pump. As a result, circulation of blood and oxygen ceases.

• With the heart muscle fibrillating or quivering, the heart has stopped pumping and circulating blood; the person will be unconscious and not breathing and is clinically dead.

• If the abnormal fibrillating heart impulses are not terminated quickly by defibrillation, the casualty will die. CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) is critical in order to sustain life and help to extend survival times however Early Defibrillation is the key to survival and the only definitive treatment for SCA.

• Sudden Cardiac Arrest is fatal but reversible, with the best chance of survival being a shock from a defibrillator within the first five minutes after collapse.

• Defibrillation reverses the cardiac arrest by sending an electrical current through the heart muscle cells, momentarily stopping the abnormal electrical energy and allowing the normal heart beat to resume. If the heart can be shocked quickly with a defibrillator within minutes after collapse, a normal heart rhythm may be restored and many victims can and do survive.

• Critically, survival from a cardiac arrest relies upon a timely response from first responders i.e. bystanders. Greater than 50-70% of Sudden Cardiac Arrest victims survive if defibrillation occurs within the first 5 minutes. For every minute that passes, there is a 10% less chance of survival.

• Response times for most emergency services are usually greater than 10-15 minutes and outside the critical few minutes in which the casualty's life can be saved.

• If properly educated, the general public can become less reliant on emergency services response times and more confident in implementing an action plan that will help to save lives.

What is a Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

• occurs when the Heart (Cardiac) Unexpectedly (Sudden) Stops (Arrests)

• is the leading cause of death in the developed world

• can strike ANYONE, of ANY AGE, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

• affects any age, gender & fitness level and often occurs without prior warning signs or symptoms

• is a lethal abnormality in the electrical impulse which controls the beating action of the heart

• is a separate event to a heart attack, although it can be caused by heart attack

• is reversible but without treatment, always results in DEATH

SUDDEN ADOLESCENT/ADULT DEATH SYNDROME

• affects younger people (< 40 yrs), usually associated with exercise

• often occurs on sporting fields/courts

• occurs without warning

• usually associated with an underlying abnormality of the heart’s electrical pumping system

• is reversible if early defibrillation is provided by bystanders

Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully donate whatever you can