The Irish Heart Foundation will provide free lifesaving CPR courses in every county across Ireland next month.

“There’ s no doubt about it, CPR saved my life.”

This was the real-life experience of Mr Derek Bolger from Stillorgan in Dublin, who survived a cardiac arrest at home thanks to the quick thinking of his wife Geraldine, who carried out CPR.

Mr Bolger is one of a number of people to feature in a series of videos being launched today (Friday 31 January 2020) by The Irish Heart Foundation, to show the real-life impact of CPR.

The videos were launched to mark the news that the Irish Heart Foundation will provide free CPR courses in every country in Ireland in February.

The courses are taking place as part of Hands for Life, a free CPR training programme which is supported by Abbott and ESB Networks and trains people in communities, workplaces and clubs to react in a cardiac emergency.

Derek Bolger from Stillorgan whose life was saved in July 2018 thanks to CPR, urged people to attend a free Hands for Life course and learn how to save a life.

“Life is more or less back to normal, I’m doing everything that I did before this incident all because of the quick action of Geraldine, getting straight in and doing the CPR. There’s no doubt about it, CPR saved my life,” said Mr Bolger.

Brigid Sinnott, Resuscitation Manager with the Irish Heart Foundation said, “Every day in Ireland 13 people die from a cardiac arrest. We are urging people to learn a new lifesaving skill, CPR, and will be providing free training in every county. Join your community, colleagues or club to learn CPR which in a cardiac emergency can be the difference between life or death. By performing quality compressions quickly, you can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival.’’

Conor Murphy, Site Director, Abbott, said, “At Abbott, we work to keep hearts healthy with our life-changing technologies and by empowering communities to prevent non-communicable diseases, here in Ireland and around the world. We know CPR saves lives, and by providing CPR training through Hands for Life, we can provide people across Ireland with the practical knowledge they need to step in and save a life in the most serious of situations.”

Paul Mulvaney, Executive Director, Customer Delivery, ESB Networks said, “ESB Networks continue to be a proud supporter of the work of the Irish Heart Foundation and the Hands for Life programme. As a company, we continue to do our best to make a genuine difference to the communities and people we serve. Through the Hands for Life programme, we want to help the Irish Heart Foundation create a nation of lifesavers. I continue to encourage communities all over Ireland to take part in the free CPR training with courses being held nationwide. CPR is an easy skill to learn, once you know how to do it, you could potentially save a life.”

Hands for Life training courses take place in community centres, workplaces, clubs and venues across Ireland. The training course takes just under one hour to complete and attendees will learn:

• How to recognise a cardiac arrest
• How to perform compressions, including hands-on practice on a CPR training manikin
• How to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator)
• How to respond to a choking emergency
• How to recognise a stroke

Communities, workplaces and clubs who have 90 or more people interested in a free Hands for Life training course can contact the Irish Heart Foundation directly on Tel: 01 668 5001 or email: handsforlife@irishheart.ie to arrange a training course in their area.

Hands for Life training courses are free and open to all adults aged 18 and over. For more information and to view Derek’s story see here.