October marks #StartAHeart month. CPAD Ingleby held a fundraiser to kick off the activities in this awareness raising month.
The CPR marathon was held by CPAD Ingleby Barwick, a charity supporting Community Public Access Defibrillators across the constituency.
The marathon event raised over £1100 for CPAD Ingleby Barwick Fund and Great North Air Ambulance Service and raised awareness towards how important CPR can be in an emergency.
The event laid resuscitation dummies out on the floor, which rotating fundraisers carried out CPR on as a relay until they reached their 10-hour goal.
Many notable local figures from the area joined the charitable efforts including Cleveland PCC Steve Turner and Thornaby’s Fire Brigade crew.
Some participants received CPR training for the first time, which is an important skill to save a life in the event of a heart attack. For every minute that a person in cardiac arrest doesn’t receive CPR and defibrillation, their chance of survival drops by up to 10%.
38% of adults in the UK have never taken a CPR class, and CPAD Ingleby is on a mission to change this.
Speaking after the event, Matt Vickers said:
“It was fantastic to be involved in such a community motivated fundraiser.
“CPAD have always been vocal campaigners for public defibrillators and education across the patch.
“They’ve been successful in securing more publicly accessible defibs in our residential areas and town centres, and I’m sure this money will go towards important CPR education.
“It’s a simple skill which doesn’t take long to learn, but ultimately it saves lives.
