St John Ambulance BSL Emergency First Aid film and resources now available

The main aim of the CPR Community Network is to increase out of hospital cardiac arrest survival (OHCA) rates in England to support one of the main objectives in the NHS’s Long Term Plan. In plain English, this means the CPR Community Network wants to ensure that no one dies through lack of Emergency First Aid provision or resources, in their local area and in their community.

As part of this work, on Monday 17 July, St John Ambulance released the latest in a number of resources aimed at empowering communities and increasing their ability to respond and give basic life support (carry out a primary survey, give effective CPR, contact emergency help and use an AED) to increase a casualty’s chance of survival. As part of this work they have released a British Sign Language Emergency First Aid film, featuring Deaf Actor, Alex Nowak, and Deaf/Hard of Hearing First Aiders within in St John to create a powerful resource so that Deaf people know what to do if they find someone in cardiac arrest.

They worked in collaboration with 999BSL, which you may be aware of, is an Ofcom registered Emergency Video Relay Service (VRS) that connect a Deaf person to emergency services via a British Sign Language interpreter.

They are extremely proud of this asset and other assets that have been made to explain how to put someone in the recovery position and talk to their Hard of Hearing/Deaf community at St John about why these resources will hopefully save lives. They also have an BSL in-vision interview with Jaz Froud, and his manager Adam, where they talk about the CPR Community Network and its aims.