Hansard

I, too, congratulate my colleague Margaret Mitchell on securing the debate so that we can acknowledge the work of the AEDs in Scotland campaign, which seeks to extend the availability of automatic external defibrillators in schools and public places and in remote areas, where it is difficult for an ambulance to respond quickly.

It is a sobering thought that 12 young people still die each week in the UK from sudden cardiac arrhythmia, usually ventricular fibrillation, which can kill within minutes in the absence of a defibrillator and effective CPR. Most of those victims are very fit young people and often skilled athletes.

Cardiac arrest can of course occur in all age groups or as the result of an accident. It is important that as many people as possible know how to deal appropriately with such a serious emergency. In the old days when I was a young doctor, defibrillators were scary pieces of equipment and quite difficult to use safely and effectively. Now, however, the modern automatic external defibrillators are very user-friendly and quite easy for members of the public to operate.

Sudden death in young people from cardiac arrhythmia was brought to my attention very soon after I became an MSP 10 years ago by the redoubtable Wilma Gunn from Selkirk, who lost her son from that cause. She asked me and several other MSPs to be a patron of her charity, Scottish Heart at Risk Testing, for which she campaigned tirelessly. Scottish HART had the twin purposes of seeking cardiac screening for all young people taking part in strenuous sport and of raising funds to put defibrillators in strategic places such as football grounds and sports stadia. I do not know how many such machines Scottish HART funded, but there were many, not least in the Dons home ground of Pittodrie, in Aberdeen.

I remember facilitating a meeting in St Andrew’s house with Malcolm Chisholm, when he was a health minister, civil servants, Wilma Gunn and Professor Hillis from Glasgow, an expert in sudden cardiac arrest, to discuss the feasibility of screening young people who might be at risk. The perceived wisdom at the time was that large-scale screening was not appropriate, but things moved on. I believe that such screening is now available for young athletes, but the minister might be able to correct me if I am wrong on that.

It is important to raise awareness of the possibility of sudden cardiac arrest and what can be done to save the lives of those who fall victim to it. Widespread distribution of AEDs is needed, together with, as has been pointed out, educating people from an early age in how to recognise cardiac arrest, how to do CPR and how to use an AED.

Samantha Clinton is to be congratulated on her efforts to have a defibrillator placed in every school in her local authority area and on designing colouring sheets for local primary school pupils that are aimed at teaching parents about sudden cardiac arrest. I am sure that her work could be used as a template for other council areas and would help to spread the word about how to recognise and cope with a potentially fatal cardiac collapse.

I thank Margaret Mitchell again for highlighting the excellent work in her region and other parts of Scotland, and I look forward to hearing the minister’s response to the debate.

17:25