17/02/2026
The current WI resolution is ‘Bystanders can be Lifesavers’ and tonight Naomi Issitt from the OurJay Foundation came to talk to us about the work of the Foundation and how to administer CPR as a bystander.
Her talk about the Foundation’s work was inspirational - set up in memory of her son Jamie who sadly died in 2022, the Foundation installs publicly available debrillators and is campaigning for , so that all police vehicles carry defibrillators - a police car was first on scene to Jamie but couldn’t access a defibrillator and the delay proved fatal.
Naomi demonstrated how to give CPR as a bystander on ‘Joey’ a male mannikin whose head lit up red if you pumped enough oxygen to it through chest compressions. Her demonstration was the best several of us had seen, she was so clear and informative.
Naomi had also bought ‘Phoebe’ a female mannikin, as sadly women are 30% less likely to have CPR administered to them - people are worried about touching their chest. We were able to try giving CPR to both mannikins - it’s a lot easier to administer to the female one, which represents an average woman.
We were reassured that the defibrillator talks us through the process and counts for you when doing compressions. It also won’t shock a casualty if it’s not needed- when the pads assess the casualty it can work out if a shock is needed or not, so we can’t get it wrong.
Naomi also advised us of a recent change - when you ring 999 and speak to the Ambulance call handler say straight away “cardiac arrest, cardiac arrest” this despatches a Cat1 ambulance to you and the call handler then talks you through what you need to do next.
Whoever goes to get a defib from a cabinet needs to take a phone as they will need to ring 999 to get the code to access it.
Thank you to Naomi and her mum Karen for an excellent evening.
