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PRESS RELEASE
THE JOE HUMPHRIES MEMORIAL TRUST
Date: Friday 27 March 2015
Medical and sports practitioners join forces to tackle sudden
death in young people at SADS Conference 2015
HEALTHCARE professionals, sports coaches, teachers and youth
leaders are being invited to a trailblazing conference that examines
issues around sudden heart deaths in young people.
The third annual SADS Awareness Conference is being organised by
local charity the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT) in
conjunction with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.
Online booking is now open for the conference, which will take
place on Friday 2nd October at Leicester City Football Club. The
event falls on the eve of the festival of rugby week in the city, when
three Rugby World Cup group 2015 matches take place at the LCFC
King Power stadium.
SADS stands for sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. It’s part of a
group of subtle heart diseases that claim the lives of 12 teenagers
and young adults, aged 12-35, every week in the UK. Some
conditions causing SADS affect whole families.
This year, for the first time, the conference has extended its scope
to reach a wider audience. As well as inviting healthcare
professionals such as doctors, nurses and paramedics to come
along and find out more about SADS, conference organisers are
extending the invitation to sports coaches, teachers, community
nurses, physios and youth leaders.
The event will be opened by Martin Johnson, former England rugby
captain and patron of the JHMT.
Martin said: “It’s vitally important that as many people as possible
learn more about subtle heart diseases and how they can affect
young people.
“SADS and other subtle heart diseases can strike anyone, at any
time. Sometimes, they can affect seemingly fit and healthy young
people while they are playing sport.
“That’s why it’s so important that sports club coaches – and anyone
who works with young people undertaking physical activity – knows
the signs and knows what to do if someone collapses.”
Dr Ffion Davies, consultant in A&E at Leicester’s Hospitals, said:
“Following the success of our last two conferences, this year we
want to broaden the audience to include teachers, sports coaches
and anyone who deals with teenagers and people in their 20s,
because one day they may have to perform resuscitation. We want
to show how easy and quick it is to learn CPR, and the importance
of getting hold of a defibrillator quickly.”
The conference has been tailored to allow flexible attendance –
delegates can choose to take part in a morning session, an
afternoon session, or attend all day.
Pricing has also been arranged flexibly to make the conference as
accessible as possible. Registration fees start from £10 for an
afternoon session for a student. An all-day place will cost a
maximum of £65.
Workshops included in the conference programme cover topics
such as ECG recognition, screening for families, bereavement and
family support, and how to spot the warning signs of SADS. There
will also be a simulated scene of someone collapsing with SADS to
evaluate responses.
To kick off the sports session in the afternoon, a sports ‘question
time’ with a panel of cardiology specialists will open up the debate
and invite members of the audience to ask questions on the topic
of screening young people in sport.
Guest speakers will include Dr Graham Stuart, a cardiologist from
Bristol and Dr Rajay Narain, a cardiologist from London, as well as
Dr Kal Parmar, a sports specialist from London.
Online booking is now open. To book a place, please apply online at
http://jhmt.org.uk/events
For all enquiries, please contact Vicky Wills, fundraising and events
co-ordinator, on [email protected]
(ends)
The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust:
Joe Humphries died from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome aged
just 14 in October 2012, whilst out running near his family home in
Rothley, Leicestershire. Since then, his family and friends have
worked tirelessly to campaign for a better understanding of sudden,
unexpected death in young people, and have campaigned for
compulsory CPR training in schools and defibrillators in schools,
community venues and sports clubs.
SADS Facts of Life:
- 12 young people aged 12-35 in Britain die each week from SADS -
undiagnosed heart problems.
- If CPR is started immediately, done effectively (by a trained person
with the victim lying flat) and a defibrillator can be got to the victim
within eight minutes, the majority of people could be saved,
without brain damage.
- The majority of deaths related to the condition are the result of
undiagnosed irregularities or abnormalities of the heartbeat, which
are known as arrhythmias.
- The unstable rhythm – the arrhythmia – develops a rhythm called
ventricular fibrillation, in which the ventricles, which are the main
pumping chambers of the heart, start beating at rates in excess of
250 beats per minute. Ventricular fibrillation causes sudden
collapse, seizure-like activity and cardiac arrest, resulting in the
total loss of heart function – but if diagnosed quickly, and if a shock
from a defibrillator is applied, normal heart rhythm and signs of life
can be restored.
- Most SADS cases have a genetic origin, with cases tending to come
to light in teenage years and the early 20s.
- SADS can also occur for the first time in a family.
- Screening is available – if a problem is detected it can be
monitored and treated.
- Every minute lost without CPR reduces the survival rate by 10%.
- Only 7% of UK people have first aid skills, compared with 80% of
people in Scandinavian countries.
- There are 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each
year and 27,000 do not survive the event (10% survival).
- To find out more about SADS and the Joe Humphries Memorial
Trust, please visit www.jhmt.org.uk