Restart a Heart

This October 2023, it's time to get hands-on again for Restart a Heart.

Every year, an alliance of partners come together to raise awareness of cardiac arrests and help more people learn CPR. 

Restart a Heart (RSAH) is an annual initiative led by Resuscitation Council UK which aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

Find out how you can support RSAH (Restart a Heart), watch videos, download resources, and more on this page.

What is Restart a Heart?

Every October an alliance of partners all over the world (including UK Ambulance Services, universities, and other charitable and public sector community-based organisations and first aid training organisations) come together to increase public awareness of cardiac arrests and the number of people trained in lifesaving CPR and defibrillation.

They do this by organising and facilitating training events and also by providing opportunities for people to learn CPR and defibrillation digitally in the safety and comfort of their own homes.

Launching this year on or around 16 October, Restart a Heart 2023 will be actively promoting the use of public access defibrillators and highlighting health inequality around access. 

Survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remain stubbornly low in the UK, with fewer than one in 10 people surviving. 

Whether you're hosting an event or attending one, teaching in person or learning online, you have a key role to play in improving survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. You can ensure that everyone has a chance to learn CPR and how to use a defibrillator and that those having a sudden cardiac arrest have their best chance of surviving.  

Here’s how you can get involved

Show your support

Let your friends and family know you’re supporting Restart a Heart by using the hashtag #RestartAHeart on social media.  A digital communication pack for 2023 is available with sample social posts, hashtags and digital information. 

Events

Ambulance services across the UK are holding events both in-person and online (including livestreams and training sessions held via video conferencing apps.)

Independent events are welcomed, and a Training Provider Pack for use as a guide to running your event is available to help support your event.  You can also use our generic Restart a Heart press release template to help spread awareness of your event within the media. 

To find out what events St. John Ambulance are running for Restart a Heart, visit their website.

To find out what your local ambulance service is doing for Restart a Heart, click ‘Ambulance Contacts’ below.

Resources for learning and teaching:

Additional resources from St John Ambulance

• View translated resources via Translating With Communities
• Access the CPR Community Network - improving access to CPR and AED training
• Download an Activity Book.

Why you should learn CPR

• Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops pumping blood around the body, and causes a person to collapse and stop breathing normally. 
• Survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remain stubbornly low in the UK, with fewer than one in ten people surviving. If CPR were more widely taught, thousands of lives could be saved every year. (Resuscitation to Recovery) 
• Around 80% of cardiac arrests happen in the home. As people are spending more time at home during COVID-19, that statistic may be higher at the moment. Learning CPR guarantees that you have the skills to help those around you, including in the home. 

Read their stories

• Find out why this group of cardiac arrest survivors, lifesavers and loved ones want you to learn how to Restart a Heart.
• Responding quickly to an emergency is just as important now as it ever was, explains lifesaver Peter Costello.