Hansard

I am pleased to be speaking in this very important debate and I also thank Jenni Minto for bringing it to the chamber. Her powerful speech has really set the tone. I also thank the British Heart Foundation for its briefing.

Since the 1960s, huge strides have been made in heart attack survival. In the 1960s, more than seven out of 10 heart attacks were fatal, whereas today at least seven out of ten people who have a heart attack survive. Currently there are 10,000 hospital admissions for heart attacks each year, which is an average of one every 50 minutes.

We need to do more work to make people aware of heart health risks and the implications of such risks for their long-term health. We know about the links between poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and poor health. Inequality as a driver of poor health cannot be underplayed and the prevalence of heart disease in areas of higher inequality points to the work that still needs to be done. As Stuart McMillan pointed out, people in areas of high inequality are less likely to have access to a defibrillator.

I must stress that it is never too late to look after our heart health. The new year often gives rise to attempts to establish new healthy habits, but I encourage everyone to take a serious look at their heart health and any small but important lifestyle changes that could be made to improve it.

Preventative care plays a huge part in cutting down the number of heart attacks and potential cardiac arrests, but when such things happen outwith hospitals, CPR and community defibrillators can be life saving and, indeed, have saved lives on a number of occasions. As Christine Grahame and Liz Smith have noted, that is especially true in rural settings. It just shows how many people are touched by these issues.

Learning CPR could be one of the best things that everyone could do at home over the Christmas holidays. After all, we never know when we might need it. For someone who has a cardiac arrest, their likelihood of survival decreases by up to 10 per cent every minute without intervention. Defibrillators might appear daunting—and the word is difficult to say—but the important point is that no one needs to be trained to use them. There are clear spoken instructions, and no one can be shocked accidentally, because the machine will provide a shock only when it detects the target rhythm.

Currently less than 5 per cent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests involve bystander intervention, but I am sure that everyone in the chamber will have read stories in the press about those incredible people who step in and make that difference. I cannot stress this enough: knowing what to do could save a life.

Many communities across the country, including in my region of Central Scotland, have raised funds to put defibrillators in key places. Unfortunately, however, many of them have not been registered with the Circuit, which provides a national overview of where defibrillators can be found and connects them with NHS ambulance services to ensure that, in those crucial moments after a cardiac arrest, they can be accessed quickly to help save lives. The Circuit also does life-saving work with regular reminders about maintenance. If communities know of a defibrillator that is not on the Circuit, they should get in touch with the network and get it registered. Knowing where it is might just save someone.

Once again, I congratulate Jenni Minto on securing this debate.