Last night a bingo caller saved my life

Obviously, any well-meaning bingo hall proprietor has a duty to take care of the health of their patrons. Bingo can be a very tense game, with suspense, excitement, frayed nerves, and raised blood pressure……. and of course with a reputation for attracting the more senior members of society This may have been what was on the minds of the UK’s North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) when they put out an initiative to install heart defibrillators in two bingo halls this year.

Clear!

Anyone who’s ever watched a medical drama will be familiar with what a defibrillator is. Two metal plates used to administer an electric shock to restart a stopped heart, usually after a shout of “Clear!” to make sure no one else gets shocked by accident. These machines are rather less dramatic in nature, and a lot easier to use. Staff effectively just need to connect the machine to a heart attack victim, and the machine will do all the work – monitoring heart rate and administering shocks if needed. So far, defibrillators have been installed at two bingo halls in Eccles and Stalybridge, and staff have been taught how to use them in the event of an emergency. The halls are pioneering the new scheme which hopes to save lives by giving easier access to life saving equipment where it may be needed. Bingo hall employees have all been given instructions on how to recognise a heart attack, and how to use CPR and the new machines to resuscitate any unfortunate bingo players until paramedics can arrive. 

While a heart failure is very serious in any situation, these defibrillator machines can, when properly used, increase the chance of survival from 3% to 50%. The NWAS intends to install more machines in public places where they may be needed, such as leisure centres. At the Stalybridge bingo hall, the manager heard about the scheme and decided that it would be a good place to have one installed.

Every minute counts 

The resuscitation development manager for NWAS, Steve Nichols, is on record as saying, “With a cardiac arrest, every minute really does count so it’s great the company are being so proactive. Around 200,000 people visit the Stalybridge bingo hall every year and as the customers tend to be a bit older it is a very good place to have a defibrillator.” 

Nichols has good reason to be concerned. According to the British Heart Foundation, heart and circulatory diseases account for one in three deaths in the UK. Right now, there are around 750,000 people in the UK living with heart failure, with 27,000 new cases each year. 124,000 heart attacks happen each year in the UK, and it’s estimated that there are around a million men and half a million women who’ve suffered a heart attack in the UK today. Of those, nearly 900,000 are under 75. Even with over 62 million people living in our country, that’s a large number. No doubt statistics like these are what prompted the NWAS to put out their new initiative.

Fun and funky or grey and granny? 

Critics have pointed out that while they applaud this idea, it does perhaps have the danger of keeping the attachment in peoples’ minds between bingo halls and the elderly. Indeed, bingo is still traditionally seen as a game for pensioners, and many bingo operators have worked hard to shed this image in order to make the game more appealing to younger players. However, it’s worth pointing out that bingo halls are not unlike pubs, leisure centres, or any other social places. A great many cater to people of all ages, and there are some which are favoured by certain age groups over others. Just as there are pubs who cater for older or younger clientele, bingo halls are much the same. 

Saving lives

The machines have been met with a lot of support from the community, regardless of age. While it may seem ever so slightly morbid, the idea is that it’s better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it. Patrons of the bingo halls agree that it’s a good idea, with one stating that though she had never seen a heart attack in a bingo hall, it seems like the kind of place where one might happen. Others agree that it will likely save lives. 

One other bingo hall regular, a heart attack survivor herself, agrees that you never know where a heart attack may happen. To any who may be alarmed by the installation of machines that are normally seen only in hospitals or carted around by paramedics, she offers the words of advice, to not worry and just to get on with life.