Northern Scot reporter Alan Beresford learns CPR at Portknockie life saving session at Victoria Hotel

Your shoulders ache, the sweat is running down your back, and you can just about hear the adrenaline singing in your ears as your world is focussed on a spot around 20cm².

That was my first experience of practising the potentially life-saving technique of CPR, which was as sobering as it was worthwhile.

Learning how to perform CPR, as well as use the public access defibrillators which now are a commonplace sight in many of our communities, was one of things I’d always intended to get around to but never quite managed.

However, all excuses went out the window when Lorraine and Davie Boa at the Victoria Hotel in Portknockie offered to host a session run by the Buckie Wildcat Community First Responders. This team of dedicated volunteers, who operate under the auspices of the Scottish Ambulance Service, started off life with the aim of keeping people suffering from cardiac arrests alive until the paramedics arrived, although since becoming Community First Responders this remit has widened.

The team cover an area of roughly 200 square miles, ranging approximately from Mosstodloch in the west through to Sandend in the east and down to Keith in the south.

Running the CPR and defib session in the Vic were Portknockie men Lenny Simpson and Iain Sandison. Away from their life-saving duties, Lenny is an offshore worker while Iain is well-known to many from his years in charge of Buckie Coastguard station.

I joined a good turnout to the session in what is normally the lounge in the Vic and, no doubt like many of the other folk present, was wondering exactly what the afternoon would bring. Most of us have no doubt seen dramatic scenes on TV and in films of CPR being administered and medics yelling “stand clear!” when administering a defib shock (you actually have to do that - more on that later) but, like most things, real life is a bit different and inevitably a lot more exhausting.

Time though, is very much of the essence, with Lenny revealing the stark statistic that for every minute CPR is not administered, the casualty’s chances of being brought back diminish by 10 per cent. The longer the person goes without CPR, the greater the chance that even if they can be revived, the likelihood of catastrophic brain damage vastly increases.

To give the casualty a decent chance, Lenny and Iain informed us that you need to hit a compression rate of 120 beats per minute - or, to put it another way, two beats a second - with the chest being depressed by around 2.5 inches each time.

So, no pressure, then.

It is not a case of diving straight in though. After first calling 999 you check there are no dangers around the casualty, for example electrical cables, which could land you in need of rescuing, too. Then you try and ascertain if the casualty is conscious by speaking to them and then gently shaking their shoulders. If a check to determine if the casualty is breathing draws a blank, then it is CPR time.

One of the things about CPR I was always a bit unsure about was exactly where on the chest you put your hands - the answer is midway on a line between the casualty’s nipples. Iain told us there were different ways to apply the compressions, although most, if not all, of us at the session opted for weaker hand on the chest, dominant hand on top with fingers locked. He stressed the importance of getting into a rhythm, whether that be using the beat of a song, such as Stayin’ Alive as popularised by one advert, or a 1-2-3-4 count repeated. I went for the count, although that was as much down to a deep antipathy to the Bee Gees than anything else.

Unlike the traditional form of CPR, the modern version does not require breaths to be given, just chest pumps. Personally, that was music to my ears, as puff was in rather a short supply after the exertion made itself known. There is no way around it; CPR can be punishing, especially on the shoulders and, in my case, on my knees, which were taking pretty much all my weight. The rewards, however, in a real-life situation, are quite literally beyond a price.

Lenny and Iain were at pains to stress that there was “no such thing as bad CPR”. Another reality of CPR is that you may end up cracking or breaking the casualty’s ribs, particularly if you’re doing it for an extended period. Brutal though it may sound, the bottom line is that medical science can treat broken ribs, but death is a far sterner challenge.

All of this, though, was but a mere starter compared to the defib. These are designed to treat potentially life-threatening heart conditions, specifically those involving abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) like ventricular fibrillation (VF). if you want to get technical. In simple terms, once a casualty is hooked up to the defib, it will determine if a shock is required to try and kick the heart back into its normal rhythm.

The instructions are pretty much idiot-proof - clear diagrams tell you where to put the pads and the machine talks you through it. Once set up, the defib tells you to stop CPR while it checks the casualty. If a shock is advised, then you get to the “stand clear!” part unless you or your CPR buddy want a bit of a sharp surprise.

Remember earlier on, I talked about CPR being punishing? Yeah, well, the next bit was tougher. If the casualty doesn’t revive, you have got two minutes of CPR ahead of you until the next shock can be administered. They say a week is a long time in politics, but let me tell you, it is not half as long as two minutes of CPR. Some defibs, like the one we were using, have a metronome that ticks out the beat for your compressions, which is very helpful. It also gave advice as to whether you needed to push harder or were, in fact, pushing too hard.

The focus is absolute, and you lose a sense of time. You think you have done a minute, but the timer tells you only 15 seconds have elapsed - you tell the shoulders and knees to shut up, and you get on with it.

The important thing to take away here is not to stop until the cavalry arrives or the person starts breathing on their own. If the latter happens, roll them into the recovery position and keep an eye on them until the professionals can take over.

Lorna Cameron, from Buckie Wildcat Community First Responders, stressed that sessions like the one in Portknockie really can save lives.

She said: “The session in Portknockie was really great, and they raised a wonderful amount of money for us.

“It’s not the first time we’ve had a lot of support from folk at the Vic, they’re very much into helping us.

“These sessions can make a huge difference; many people have these preconceptions of what CPR entails. The sessions are really informal and fun and show what’s actually involved.

“CPR is something anyone can do; you don’t need specialist qualifications or to be a doctor or paramedic. We’ve worked with people aged from nine to 90. It’s a simple skill that I think everyone should learn, and the sessions show that anyone can save a life,”.

The kit Lenny, Iain, and their colleagues carry does not come cheap, a fact compounded by the fact that the equipment they use must be of the same standard as that used bythe Scottish Ambulance Service crew. Lenny pointed out that this can add considerably to their expenses.

However, the charity was not to leave Portknockie empty-handed. Lorraine and Davie handed over a donation of £860, the total raised from the pub charity bottle and an 80s night organised by local ladies Lesley Lewis and Grace Thain. Donations raised on the day of the session topped that up to a highly respectable £910.

Lorraine and Davie said, “We’re delighted to be able to hand over this donation to such a good cause and to host the event itself.

“There was a great turnout, and it was easy to see Lenny and Iain are really passionate about what they do and helping people learn skills that could save lives.”

To find out more about the work of Buckie Wildcat Community First Responders, and also how to support them, visit their Facebook page.

The final verdict - if you get the chance to do a course like this, whether it is with the Buckie Wildcats or elsewhere, please do it. It takes away the fear of the unknown of what is a simple, albeit demanding, process. Oh, and you might just save a life.

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