A NEW campaign which focuses on "hands only CPR" has been praised by St John Ambulance in the Isle of Man.

The British Heart Foundation's campaign, which is fronted by Vinnie Jones, shows how to save someone's life by giving chest compressions.

In a change to the normal CPR method the campaign highlights that members of the public can still save someone from dying without giving the "kiss of life".

A spokesperson for the British Heart Foundation said: "There are appalling survival rates from out of hospital cardiac arrests in the UK.

"Less than 10 per cent of casualties survive to leave hospital and yet many cardiac arrests are witnessed by members of the public.

"We have to try and improve these survival rates while facing the reality that most people don't know how to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

"Research shows people are more likely to start CPR if they only have to carry out hands only CPR on a casualty.

"CPR with rescue breaths should remain the gold standard but if someone is untrained, or unsure about how to give rescue breaths and chest compressions, hands only CPR is still more likely to increase a casualty's chance of survival."

A television advert highlighting the campaign shows Vinnie Jones demonstrating the procedure on a casualty to the beat of Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees.  

Phil Bennett, the commercial director for St John Ambulance Isle of Man, said the campaign was "spot on" and would hopefully encourage more people to become lifesavers.

He said: "Everybody, whether they know first aid or not or whether they are formally trained or not, can be the difference.

"In the training we give we say if you are uncomfortable with doing rescue breaths that is fine – just do the chest compressions. Not everyone wants to do the rescue breaths and that does have an effect of putting people off doing CPR.

"The actual techniques of CPR have moved on. What they are showing in the video is the more effective part of CPR because you are pressing on the chest to get the blood to move around the body.

"Phone for the ambulance first – that hasn't changed, that is good protocol, and then get on and do the chest compressions. If you can do the rescue breaths too then great!"

Phil believes members of the public may also be wary of stepping in to help in an emergency situation because of the "blame culture" that exists.

He explained: "Certainly what I find is that more often than not delegates on courses say to me 'will I get sued if I do it wrong?'

"They work on the principle that if you do nothing you can't get sued – but could you actually walk pas someone and say, hand on heart, that you feel comfortable doing nothing in case your get sued? It's the blame culture we live in.

"I'm a firm believer that there wouldn't be a judge in this land who would fall on the claimant's side if someone has done the best they can."

St John Ambulance in the Isle of Man offers a range of first aid training courses which are designed to equip members of the public with the skills they would need in an emergency. 

The Essential First Aid course – which costs £30 + VAT - covers the full CPR protocols, choking, bleeding and scene and patient management.

Phil said he hoped the new British Heart Foundation campaign would encourage more people to sign up.

He continued: "We'd love to think that we would have enough people in the Isle of Man trained in first aid so we could literally say there is one first aider on every street."

People who have previously been trained in first aid but who want to refresh their skills can also attend training courses run by St John Ambulance.

Phil continued: "All of our certificates (with the exception of the defibrillator course) have three year validity. We work on the principle that within three years things will have changed.

"If you also look educationally you'll see that we lose skills if we don't use them. People come back to use who want to keep their skills up. Some people have been coming back to us for 20 odd years!"

For more information on St John Ambulance Isle of Man and how you could be the difference in an emergency situation click here or telephone 01624 674387.