Hospital team gets ready to complete a 12-hour sponsored CPR-a-thon

Staff at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, are fundraising to purchase a machine that performs mechanical chest compressions if a person has a cardiac arrest and CPR is prolonged.

The hospital has a LUCAS CPR Chest Compression System machine that is kept within the Emergency Department to help to resuscitate patients, however on occasions this has not been available for use in other parts of the hospital. Members of the Critical Care Outreach Team, the Hospital at Night Team, the Resuscitation Team and the Intensive Care Unit Team are getting ready to perform CPR for 12 hours non-stop on a mannequin in a bid to raise funds to purchase a second LUCAS machine.

Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Critical Care, Hayley Head, said: “We can perform CPR for 90 minutes, whilst reversing the cause of a cardiac arrest. This can be tremendously demanding, both mentally and physically, for everyone involved.

“LUCAS is able to maintain the rhythm and pressure needed to give patients the best possible chance of survival and also the best chance of recovery. With the support of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity we are hoping to raise the funds to purchase a second machine.

“This will then be used as needed across many of the hospital wards.”

Last year the Critical Care Outreach team were called to 37 cardiac arrests across the hospital, excluding A&E and the Intensive Care Unit.

Hayley added: “We have a team of 15 colleagues who will take it in turns to perform CPR for two hours at a time in teams of four. This will continue to complete a total of 12 hours non-stop CPR.

“We will be holding the CPR-a-thon in an area of the Outpatients Department waiting room. Performing CPR is probably the most physically demanding part of our jobs as healthcare professionals, so please feel free to pop down and show your support to the team.”

The fundraising event will be taking place from 8am to 8pm on Friday 26 April.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity Fundraiser, Gary Burr, added: “Our teams do an amazing job caring for our patients. We are so proud to support this great team and event that will not only raise awareness, but also funds to help our colleagues to continue saving lives. A second LUCAS machine will provide enhanced care for our patients.”

Anyone wanting to support the team can make a donation via the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity website: https://www.ulhcharity.org.uk/appeal/cpr-a-thon.