Video support being offered for cardiac arrest

999 callers in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire can be given immediate guidance while helping someone in cardiac arrest thanks to a new scheme.

Members of the public can talk to paramedics from the East of England Ambulance Service through a live video link, while clinicians assess the situation in real time.

The project will run four days a week from the service's emergency operations centre.

Dr Simon Walsh, Medical Director for EEAST said:

“Each year, EEAST 's crews carry out resuscitation on around 3,500 patients. We can restart over 1,000 of those patient’s hearts.

“However, nationally, the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest in the community long enough to be discharged from hospital is only one in ten. “Providing effective CPR as soon as possible is a massive part in improving the chances of survival. “This scheme will help bystanders keep patients alive during those vital minutes when our ambulances are on their way.”