NOW approaching the completion of its sixth year of operations, during which time it will have trained nearly 1,000 members of the community in Emergency Life Support (ELS) skills, the Heartstart Farnham Lions team of volunteer instructors will enter the second quarter of 2018 with its 108th free class on Wednesday, April 4.

Cardiac arrest is the ultimate medical emergency. What happens (or doesn’t) in the few minutes after someone collapses greatly affects the outcome; life or death. Would you know what to do in such a situation? Would you be able to provide life saving aid to a loved one, a friend, or even a stranger on the street?

Heartstart, an initiative of the British Heart Foundation, is aimed at enabling ordinary people to do just that. Farnham Lions Club is driving this initiative forward, which, together with the club’s involvement in the installation and maintenance of publicly accessible defibrillators (PADs) around the town, should result in one of the most survivable environments in the country, outside of hospital, in which to have a life threatening heart event.

Heartstart classes are scheduled as follows: April 4 and 18, May 2, 16 and 30, and June 13 and 27. There will then be a break until September, when further class dates will be announced in the local press.

All classes take place at the St John Ambulance Hall, near Waitrose in The Hart, on selected Wednesday evenings, commencing at 7pm and lasting around two and a half hours. Each class delivers the whole course. They are free, although voluntary donations towards expenses are most welcome.

Take a look at the scheme’s website heartstartfarnhamlions.co.uk or email [email protected] for further information and to reserve a place.