Have a heart and save lives in your community

Have you got the heart to raise awareness of atrial fibrillation in your community?

Health Innovation North West Coast, the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast, is appealing for volunteers to become AF Ambassadors in Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire.

The call comes at the start of Global AF Aware Week 2018.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder) affecting over 1.5 million people across the UK. There are up to 500,000 people unidentified, undiagnosed and at high risk of an AF-related stroke which is more devastating than any other type of stroke and often fatal.

This year the theme of Global AF Aware Week is ‘Know your pulse to know your heart rhythm.’

Knowing your pulse can save your life. If your resting heart rate is irregular, too fast, or too slow, it is possible that you have an undiagnosed arrhythmia. But, once detected, anticoagulation therapy can prevent a stroke.

Health Innovation North West Coast is helping to spread this message by sending out its team of volunteer AF Ambassadors to test pulses throughout the week to help detect AF and prevent strokes. Now, it is calling for more volunteers to be trained as AF Ambassadors.

Volunteers are equipped with mobile ECG devices which can detect an irregular pulse within one minute.

Over the last six months, the team of 36 Ambassadors have tested around 1,000 pulses with 29 people being referred to their GP for further tests, potentially saving several strokes.

Now, the Innovation Agency wants to step up its work by increasing the number of AF Ambassadors.

Dr Julia Reynolds, Head of Programmes at the Innovation Agency, said: “The North West Coast has one of the highest AF-related stroke rates in the UK and we know that there are at least 20,000 people in our region who are unaware they have AF, so we have a number of people left to find.

“We aim to reduce the number of AF-related strokes to fewer than 500 per year in our region by 2020.”

Other Innovation Agency initiatives to reduce strokes include:

·         An AF Collaborative of more than 100 GP practices using the mobile ECG devices with a further 30 to join soon

·         A partnership with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service who are carrying out pulse tests during their Safe and Well home visits

·         An initiative in East Lancashire involving equipment which allows AF patients to self-manage their condition at home – saving them repeated visits to a hospital or clinic

Anyone interested in becoming an AF Ambassador should call Debbie Parkinson on 01772 520250 or email debbie.parkinson@innovationagencynwc.nhs.uk.

A video about the Innovation Agency’s AF work can be seen here.