Help reduce heart attack deaths with your New Year's Resolution

by Taryn Davies | 4 January 2014

Save people's lives with your New Year's Resolution

As 92,000 people in the UK suffer heart attacks each year, and a third of those die as a result, St John Ambulance is calling for you to make a new year's resolution that you can keep.

They want you to help the charity reduce heart attack deaths by watching and sharing a six-second film on www.sja.org.uk, so more people can spot the signs, and be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

New research from St John Ambulance shows that nearly two-thirds of people wrongly believe that a heart attack is a cardiac arrest. The symptoms of a heart attack are known as the “Four Ps”: Pain (in the chest), Pulse (rapid or weak), Perspiration, and Pale skin. If these are spotted swiftly, and appropriate treatment is given, it need not lead to a potentially fatal cardiac arrest (when the person stops breathing and requires resuscitation).

The problem:

Nearly three-quarters of us make New Year's resolutions, with 96% breaking them mainly because they lose interest and sometimes because they're time consuming.

The solution: This January, St John Ambulance is calling on the public to make one achievable resolution which is free, takes seconds, and could save a life today or in the future. St John Ambulance is encouraging people to watch and share their new film, premiering on www.sja.org.uk today, which shows how to recognise the first signs of a heart attack.

Sue Killen, CEO of St John Ambulance says: ‘We want to give people the chance to make an achievable – and potentially life-saving - New Year’s resolution. Help us reduce heart attack deaths by watching our quick steps on how to spot a heart attack, and share it with your friends. We hope it isn’t but this could be the year you need to use it.’

If you don’t have time to watch the film, just remember the “Four Ps” and you’re half way there: