World Restart a Heart Day

They learned how to save lives, and now they've shown what they can do. On the World Restart a Heart Day celebrated on October 16, dozens of younger and older Wroclaw residents took part in the action organized by Wroclaw Medical University as part of the "Move Your Heart" campaign.

Preschoolers expertly restored circulation to teddy bears, while students from dozens of Wroclaw schools performed heart massage using phantoms. While the youngsters worked at their institutions, connecting online with the UMW Medical Simulation Center, resuscitation was underway on site at more than a dozen stations. Representatives from Wroclaw universities, the Department of Education of the Wroclaw City Hall, the University Clinical Hospital, the Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service, the Provincial Police Headquarters and the Ambulance Service met at the phantoms.

- In a situation of sudden cardiac arrest, the first link in the so-called chain of survival is insanely important," explained the Vice Dean of the UMW Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Robert Zymlinski, Prof. UMW. - Anyone can become it. We are pleased by the huge response with which the "Move your heart" campaign in Wroclaw was met, and especially by the fact that educational institutions joined it in such large numbers. In Poland, only in 50 percent of cases of sudden cardiac arrest do witnesses undertake resuscitation at the scene. Together we want to change this and show that saving someone's life is simpler than we think.

Dr. Wiktor Kuliczkowski, UMW professor, a cardiologist at the Heart Institute of the University Clinical Hospital in Wroclaw, explained why resuscitation as soon as possible is so important: - By performing cardiac massage, we pump blood to the brain. The chances of survival are determined precisely by these first minutes, during which we protect the brain.

A day earlier, as part of the European Heart Restoration Day celebrations, the UMW campaign logo was displayed at Tarczynski Arena Wrocław.