Cardiac arrest survival shouldn't depend on your postcode: Resus Annie on Tour visits Belfast

Would you know what to do if someone collapsed in cardiac arrest in front of you? That question is being put to Belfast residents this October as a UK-wide campaign arrives in the city to highlight the simple actions that can help save a life before an ambulance arrives.

Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) will brought Restart a Heart 2026 to Belfast on Tuesday 27 October through Resus Annie on Tour, a travelling CPR training manikin visiting six UK cities to tackle inequalities in cardiac arrest survival.

Cardiac arrest is one of the most time-critical medical emergencies a person can face. Every year, 115,000 people experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest9, and survival is a race against the clock. Immediate recognition, early CPR and rapid defibrillation can be the difference between life and death, often before an ambulance even arrives. 

Northern Ireland’s cardiac arrest survival rate remains low at less than 1 in 10, with significant inequalities affecting people's awareness and level of lifesaving skills. RCUK data shows that access to CPR training and defibrillator awareness is not shared equally. People from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to have accessed CPR training and are less likely to know where their nearest defibrillator is or how to use it. Meanwhile, people living in more deprived communities are less likely to receive bystander CPR, despite it having the potential to double a person's chance of survival.

Resus Annie on Tour tackles this challenge head-on by giving people the opportunity to practise CPR and speak directly with experts in the communities that need it most. Members of the public were encouraged to stop and speak to the team when Resus Annie came to Belfast earlier this week, where RCUK shared lifesaving advice, heard local perspectives, and helped more people gain the confidence to act in an emergency.

The campaign also encourages people to learn the steps to CPR through a dedicated QR code. After completing the training, individual are able to register as ResusReady, helping RCUK map where lifesaving skills are being developed across the UK and identify communities where further support is needed to tackle the systemic inequalities in resuscitation.

Adam Benson-Clarke, Clinical Director at RCUK said: " Nobody's chance of surviving a cardiac arrest should depend on their postcode, ethnicity or background. Yet we know that access to lifesaving skills and knowledge is not equal. Through Resus Annie on Tour, we're helping more people learn CPR and feel confident stepping in when every second counts."

Michael Allen, Community Resuscitation Lead at Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said: “When cardiac arrest occurs, there is no time to wait. For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, the chance of survival can drop by 10%, that’s why learning CPR matters so much. 

“Up to 80% of cardiac arrests happen in the home, which means the person that needs your help could be a family member or loved one. Resus Annie on Tour is about raising awareness of vital lifesaving skills and giving people the confidence to act. Anyone can learn CPR and anyone can make a difference.”

To find out more about Restart a Heart 2026 and register as ResusReady, you can visit: www.resus.org.uk/get-involved/restart-heart-day