Staff from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust recently completed Resuscitation Council UK’s (RCUK) Basic Life Support Instructor (BLSi) training course to enable them to equip thousands of participants across west London with life-saving CPR skills.

The Train the Trainer initiative is part of The Heart of West London partnership and commitment to bringing together key players in the cardiac health world to make a difference. We are Brentford FC, Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Resuscitation Council UK, and A-K-A Day.

Every Second Counts

The training coincides with the RCUK’s recent report, Every Second Counts: Tackling Inequalities in Resuscitation, which warns that socioeconomic deprivation, a person’s ethnicity, or cultural background shouldn’t determine whether a person is more or less likely to survive a cardiac arrest.

RCUK commissioned the research to understand the views and expectations of people from certain ethnic minority groups in England, around learning and performing CPR. The study found that seven in ten people didn’t know where their nearest defib was - this is in contrast to the wider UK population where six in ten did know.

Early defibrillation can more than double survival rates, yet defibs are lacking in areas where people from ethnic minority backgrounds live – over half (56%) of these areas have no defibs in comparison to 31% of areas where predominantly white British people live. They’re also lacking in the most deprived parts of the UK - almost half (44%) have no defibrillator registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network.

Further findings from the report show that many people from ethnic minority backgrounds across the UK are also facing disparities to accessing CPR training - Just 22% received training in the last ten years, compared with 41% of the UK population in the same period.

60% said they have never been trained in using a defibrillator, and a third (34%) mentioned a lack of awareness of training opportunities.

Practical Workshops and Sessions

Ten staff from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust completed a four-hour online training course with RCUK before putting their online learning into practice with in-person practical workshops and sessions to enable them to start delivering the vital sessions in the community.

Since completing the training, staff members from the Trust have already provided CPR training for over 200 young people during workshops at the Premier League Kicks Cup London Regional tournament held in April, as well as tutoring parents of the Brentford Penguins.

James Cant, CEO at RCUK said: “We’re delighted that staff from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust have done our Basic Life Support Instructor (BLSi) course, and plan on using these life-saving skills to train the community.

“We want to close the inequalities gap that currently exists when someone has a cardiac arrest, to ensure that everyone, everywhere has an equal chance of surviving the ultimate medical emergency. Brentford FC and BFCCST’s fantastic work in this area will help us to achieve this and we are grateful for their continued support."