Just one in five cardiac arrests receive bystander CPR

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This UK Emergency Services Day, ESO Belfast is highlighting the lifesaving impact of bystander CPR in emergency response scenarios. The software company - which is dedicated to improving community health and safety through the power of data - has revealed in its 2024 Emergency Services Index that only 22 per cent of 112,000 cardiac arrests receive bystander CPR prior to the arrival of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

According to the British Heart Foundation NI, Northern Ireland currently experiences over 1,400 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year, and out of those, less than one in ten people survive. It also reveals that the region is leading in the UK when it comes to life-saving skills – with almost three-quarters of adults capable of performing CPR – but with around 80 per cent of cardiac arrest cases happening at home, ESO Belfast is urging as many people as possible to learn CPR.

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According to Russell Beggs, Senior Vice President of Engineering at ESO Belfast, Emergency Services Day reflects ESO’s core mission and dedication to improving community safety.

Russell said: “This UK Emergency Services Day, we’re highlighting the critical importance of bystander CPR across our communities. There can never be enough people able to step in and perform CPR in a crisis – it can be the difference between life and death. Our emergency services do a fantastic job of supporting as many people as they can, but as pressures grow, it’s essential that we prioritise the safety and readiness of our communities and play our part in making our homes, workplaces, and cities as safe as possible.”

ESO Belfast Team ahead of UK Emergency Services DayESO Belfast Team ahead of UK Emergency Services Day
ESO Belfast Team ahead of UK Emergency Services Day

ESO’s 2024 Emergency Services Index has been developed to help agencies worldwide create safer communities. It includes data from over 3,016 departments across North America, representing more than 12 million EMS responses between January 1 and December 31, 2023.

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This year’s Index introduced several pivotal measures impacting the EMS industry such as patient offload time, developed in response to patient delays whilst in hospital before care is transferred to emergency department staff. It showed that whilst a significant majority of patient offload times fall within 20 minutes, over 10 per cent wait between 20 minutes up to an hour.

ESO was founded in Texas in 2004. It invested in Belfast in 2019 with the local office serving as an Engineering and Cyber Security hub and is home to 150 employees. The talented team support the company’s position as the largest software provider to emergency services.

Earlier this year, ESO Belfast announced the development of two new products designed to revolutionise the operations of first responders. A new iOS app for ESO’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) developed over the past 12 months and a Patient Registry product developed in over the last three years. The products have been crafted to streamline workflows and enhance the capabilities of fire departments, hospitals, state, and governments bodies.

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Russell concludes: “Our Belfast team have played a significant role in supporting ESO’s global operation, contributing to the development of innovative software and technologies that enhance emergency medical response worldwide. At ESO, our mission is to improve patient care and provider wellbeing. And through the use data and insights, we can help people when then at they’re most vulnerable and create safer communities for customers across the globe. We’re immensely proud of the talented individuals who make up our team and are dedicated to empowering frontline workers and making a difference every day.”

Emergency Services Day is a day dedicated to celebrating emergency service workers, such as paramedics, police officers, and firefighters. It is celebrated each year on September 9. The day also aims to promote using emergency services responsibly, educate the public on lifesaving skills, and promote careers in the services.

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