To mark the nationwide "Week of Resuscitation" from September 16 to 22, a day of action will be held on Saturday, September 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. at two locations in the city center (Kapuzinerplanken, Paradeplatz).
Under the motto "Saving a life. 100 Pro Reanimation", Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Mannheim, Johanniter Unfallhilfe Mannheim, DLRG and the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (MRN) are participating in the campaign initiated by medical students from "First Aid For All" and Mannheim University Medical Center (UMM).
The organizations will provide information on resuscitation measures and give free "hands-on" training. The First Mayor and Head of Security of the City of Mannheim, Christian Specht, also supports the campaign and will be instructed in first aid at 2 p.m. on the Paradeplatz. With the reanimation training for young and old the signal is to be set: Reanimation is simple. Anyone can save a life!
"Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone - which is why everyone should be able to take simple, life-saving measures in an emergency," explains Julian Sänger, MD, senior physician at the Department of Anesthesiology and Surgical Intensive Care Medicine at UMM. Life-saving first aid measures should therefore not only become an issue when the emergency situation is or was there. "Since the last first aid course usually took place some time ago, it is important to regularly refresh resuscitation knowledge in order to be prepared for emergencies," the emergency medicine specialist continues.
In the event of cardiovascular arrest, the brain is irreparably damaged by a lack of oxygen after three to five minutes. However, rescue services in Germany need an average of seven minutes to arrive at the scene. Therefore, if lay people and first responders do not begin chest compressions by the time the rescue service arrives, the patient's chances of survival are poor. Last year, the rate at which first responders started resuscitation before the arrival of the rescue service fell again for the first time (2017: 43 percent, 2018: 39 percent).
Resuscitation Week is an initiative of the German Resuscitation Council (GRC) to raise public awareness of lay resuscitation and to improve public knowledge of resuscitation through nationwide campaigns.
Further information on the Internet at www.einlebenretten.de