On Wednesday 26 October, everyone in Transition Year sat in the Lower Argyle, learning about the work of the Irish Heart Foundation. Ciara Mealy, who is head of fundraising with the IHF, spoke to us about the work they do and the areas of heart health in Ireland that they have helped to improve.
She explained to us how a heart attack happens when an artery in the heart becomes blocked. She stressed the dangers of smoking and how smokers are more likely to suffer a heart attack than someone who doesn’t smoke at all. The Irish Heart Foundation was involved in the implementation of the smoking ban in Ireland.
Ciara reminded us that we should all be getting our five servings of fruit and vegetables a day and that teenagers like us should be doing an hour of physical activity a day (this is compulsory in St Columba’s so we have no choice!). 10,000 people die in Ireland each year as a result of heart disease, so the things she stressed to us about how to have a healthy heart are really important.
She then spoke about strokes and how they occur. 10,000 people suffer a stroke each year in Ireland. We learned that people who are under 65 can have a stroke. A girl who is involved in the IHF had a stroke when she was just eighteen years of age. The Irish Heart Foundation has been running a campaign to help people realise when someone is having a stroke. Remember FAST: Face (if someone’s face is drooping downwards), Arms (if the person can’t raise both arms), Speech (if their speech is slurred, Time (it’s time to call 999/112)
To finish, Ciara demonstrated CPR to us on a small dummy. We saw that you have to do 100 chest compressions per minute for the CPR to be effective. Somewhat ironically, if you just think of the Bee Gees song “Staying Alive” you will be able to time the 100 compressions a minute. We will be learning more about CPR in SPHE classes later in the year.
I really enjoyed the talk because I found it interesting and informative.
Juliana Huggard
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