About my pledge MS

CRY is urging all MSs to sign a pledge to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death to help save young lives.

Why do we need MSs to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death?

UK and Scottish healthcare policy to prevent young sudden cardiac deaths is informed by a number of guidelines and recommendations. These include:

  • Department of Health National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease, Chapter 8
  • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Transient loss of consciousness (‘blackouts’) in over 16s
  • UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recommendation on screening to prevent Sudden Cardiac Death in 12 to 39 year olds
  • Heart Disease Action Plan 2021

Current UK policies are contradictory, with current guidelines based on inconsistent assessments of the incidence, methods of diagnosis and management of cardiac conditions in young people.

The UK and Scotland needs a national strategy to ensure the guidelines and policies to prevent young sudden cardiac death are consistent. The first stage of a national strategy should be to correctly acknowledge the incidence and impact of these deaths.

The latest report from the UK National Screening Committee (LINK) and a recent letter to the government from the UK Statistics Authority (LINK) provide clear evidence that the number of young sudden cardiac deaths (age 35 and under) is significantly under-reported.

In 2015, policy advisors considered the risk of young sudden cardiac death “tiny” and said that “the overwhelming majority of heart attacks happen in elderly people (LINK)

12 young people dying every WEEK is not a “tiny” issue

Cardiac arrest in the young is NOT comparable to heart attacks in the elderly

What is the pledge?

“I pledge to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death to help save the lives of the 12 apparently fit and healthy young people who die every week in the UK of undiagnosed cardiac conditions.”

How do MSs support this campaign and sign up to the pledge?

To immediately sign up to the campaign, MSs can do it by EMAIL and/or TWITTER.

In an EMAIL by forwarding the following statement to mypledge@c-r-y.org.uk:

I am today pledging to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death to help save the lives of the 12 apparently fit and healthy young people who die every week in the UK of undiagnosed cardiac conditions.

And/or in a TWEET:

Today I pledge #MSsupport4CRY to establish a national strategy to prevent #YSCD to help save young lives #12AWeek www.c-r-y.org.uk/my-pledge