The televised cardiac arrest of Christian Eriksen on the football pitch shocked the public and left many wondering how they could help save a life.
The 29-year-old midfielder collapsed during his country’s opening Euro 2020 clash with Finland, with his teammates circling around him as he was given CPR and a shock from a defibrillator on the pitch.
Since then, people around the north-east have been keen to brush up on their own life-saving skills – prompting first aid trainer Cheryl Jones to organise a free, family-friendly session.
Miss Jones, from Cruden Bay, owns AB Medical which does first aid training for work places, sports groups or those who work with children.
She revealed she has been inundated with queries since Erikkson’s scare.
Miss Jones, who also runs Dinky Doctors where she teaches young children lifesaving skills in a fun and safe way, will host the session at Cruden Bay’s Watson Park on July 12.
Session will ‘dispel myths’
She said: “The idea of doing these open sessions is to show that it is that simple and you’ll not be worried about it if it ever happens and you do need to use the machine.
“It’s a good chance to dispel myths and things that you see on TV which maybe aren’t correct, and just get people talking about the subject so there is no fear in trying to help someone.
“It’s even harder, because Covid has made people more scared about touching a person or resuscitating someone, so again we can go over safety elements they can take so that they can still try and do some good while keeping themselves safe.”
The local coastguard team will be assisting Miss Jones and they plan to provide as many mannequins as possible, spread out by two metres, to allow people to take part while they are demonstrating.
Miss Jones stressed the session is open to all and encouraged parents and guardians to take their children so they can learn the necessary CPR skills too.
Conversation around life saving skills started
“There’s nothing like a famous footballer being brought back to life live on TV to get a conversation going, but it’s a stark reminder that a young, fit, healthy person can collapse and stop breathing,” she added.
The first aider believes that the televised collapse of the footballer has encouraged people to think why it is important they know these life saving skills, especially when there are defibrillators provided in communities that some may not know how to use.
She explained: “It’s a survival rate thing, I’ve been a first responder with the ambulance service and I’ve been at cardiac arrests and it is about the immediate response, what’s done quickly.
“Everyone talks about how it’s simple, you just follow the defib instructions, but until you actually see how simple it is, it’s still nerve-wracking for people who have never had any experience with it.”
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