The campaign is spear-headed by a new TV advert featuring “Hollywood hard man” and former Chelsea footballer Vinnie Jones. In the advert members of the public are encouraged to call 999 and use ‘hard, fast and uninterrupted’ chest compressions if they witness a cardiac arrest. The message, which is backed by Resuscitation Council UK, is even if you are untrained or unconfident about ‘mouth to mouth’ resuscitation give Hands-only CPR a go instead – it could help save someone’s life.

Chief Ambulance Officer Jon Beausire said:

“We fully support this campaign encouraging people to call 999 and start chest compressions immediately if they see someone collapse and stop breathing. While chest compressions with rescue breaths will continue to be part of the ‘gold standard for CPR’; the ‘kiss of life’ can be daunting for untrained bystanders who want to help when someone has collapsed with a cardiac arrest. By carrying out CPR while an ambulance is on the way you can double someone’s chances of survival, even if you don’t perform mouth to mouth.”

For more information, visit the British Heart Foundation website