Training we should all know

Thames Valley Air Ambulance called in to Donnington Grove Golf Course to provide an evening of training about how to help save the life of someone who has suffered a heart attack or cardiac arrest. Titled CPR and AED awareness, Brian Dixon and a colleague gave a talk to Grove members and then a demonstration of what to do to help someone who has suffered one of these life threatening events.

The visit was a result of the golf club losing a longstanding member to cardiac arrest on the course and, when the air ambulance was eventually called, they were unable immediately to locate the victim. The outcome of the recent tragedy has had a number of outcomes: first, to inform all members of the location of the CPR equipment, the ‘defib machine’; second, to put in new signage on every tee area, using ‘what three words’ to identify the specific location; and third, to train people in the techniques of identifying if the person has had a heart attack, or cardiac arrest, and then what to do.

Members had training on what signs to look for, the initial observations needed and practiced on mannequins specially adapted to indicate if chest compressions are timed correctly. It is training we should all know, even if we hope that we never have to deal with such a situation. The death of a golfer on the course, it has brought this into sharp focus.

Thames Valley Air Ambulance, who depend totally on donations, had 3,302 call outs in the past 12
months – so, an average of 9 times a day – and nearly 40% of the call outs are for cardiac arrest. They
encourage organisations such as golf clubs to use ‘what three words’ to assist in the urgent
location of victims, and for all clubs to be aware of the location of defib machines. This must be viewed as a positive legacy of the terrible event at Grove.