The Welsh Ambulance Service Charity has been awarded a £142,000 grant to help improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
The Welsh Ambulance Service Charity is one of 14 NHS charities in the UK to receive funding from NHS Charities Together, through its £1.94m Community Resilience Grants Fund, in partnership with Omaze.
Working with 14 NHS ambulance charities up and down the country, the fund has been designed to help more people gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to respond in an emergency.
Currently, fewer than 10% of people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital will return home to their families.
However, rapid action through early identification, CPR and defibrillation can increase chances of survival to more than five in 10 (50%).
The money awarded by NHS Charities Together will allow the Welsh Ambulance Service Charity to use data to enhance the chain of survival, and to support volunteers to teach life-saving skills within their local communities.
David Hopkins, Head of Charity at Welsh Ambulance Service Charity said: “We are incredibly grateful to NHS Charities Together for their support and funding.
“Our new project aims to strengthen the chain of survival across Wales, working with our Welsh Ambulance Service colleagues to improve bystander CPR confidence, and increase access to defibrillators.
“This project will enable us to give more people the skills, confidence and local support needed to save lives in a cardiac emergency.”
Jon Goodwin, Head of Grants at NHS Charities Together, added: “We are delighted to award this grant to the Welsh Ambulance Service Charity as part of our Community Resilience Grants Fund.
“The project has the potential to make a huge difference to people living in Wales by helping them recognise the early signs of a life-threatening emergency and how to respond.
“In addition to helping improve chances of survival, by educating people to know how to respond in a health emergency – or even prevent it from happening in the first place – we can help reduce pressure on the NHS, which has never been more important.
“We look forward to continuing our work with the Welsh Ambulance Service Charity and other organisations across the UK to help the NHS go further for everyone.”
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