Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major public health problem that affects over 8,000 people every year in the East Midlands. A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating, usually due to a failure of the electrical activation system. The person affected will immediately become unconscious and they will die within minutes if not treated quickly. In about half of cases, the event is witnessed by a bystander, whose immediate response will often determine the outcome. The key actions required to ensure the best chance of survival are to immediately call an ambulance, commence chest compressions (CPR) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) if one is available. These steps, followed by specialist hospital care, are referred to as the ‘chain of survival’.
Currently, less than one in ten people will survive an OHCA but this figure could be greatly increased if more people knew how to recognise and respond to a witnessed event. There is an urgent need to increase public awareness and ensure that everyone has the knowledge, confidence and skills to intervene. This is particularly important as over 80% of OHCA occur in the home, where no other help is immediately available and the chance of survival decreases by up to 10% with every minute that passes without intervention. People from South Asian backgrounds living in the UK are thought to be disproportionately affected by OHCA and may have a lower chance of survival. There is evidence to suggest that South Asians are less likely to have received training in CPR and less likely to know the location of their nearest publicly accessible AED.
The aim of this project is to assess the extent of these health inequalities in Leicester, a city where people of South Asian background comprise over 40% of the population, and to develop, implement and evaluate culturally sensitive and tailored interventions to improve them by identifying and addressing specific needs and barriers in the South Asian population. The immediate goal is to raise awareness of OHCA and to provide training to improve bystander recognition and response. This will immediately empower the community and should ultimately lead to improved outcomes after OHCA.
This project has been co-created with and is supported by researchers from University of Leicester, De ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ University, and partners at South Asian Health Action UK and Heartwize. The successful candidate for this project will be enrolled at University of Leicester.
Project Aims:
The specific research aims are:
- To assess ethnicity-related differences in OHCA circumstances, treatment and outcomes in
Leicester
- To identify gaps and barriers in relation to the prevalence and acquisition of knowledge and
skills for the recognition and response to OHCA amongst lay people in the South Asian
community
- To develop, implement and evaluate effective, culturally sensitive and tailored educational
interventions to improve bystander responses and outcomes after OHCA in the South Asian
community
Estimated thesis submission: