We would be grateful if you could email the message below to your MSP to urge them to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death.
Please consider adding a personal opening paragraph about why you are supporting CRY.
You can find your MSP’s email address at https://www.parliament.scot/msps.
If you meet them in person please print out a copy of the pledge and placard (DOWNLOAD HERE) and ask them to sign it when you meet. Please take a photo with you and your MSP holding the placard and email the photo to CRY or include in the tweet thanking them.
Please thank your MSP if they support the campaign with the following tweet
Thank you [MSP name……] for #MSPsupport4CRY to establish a national strategy to prevent #YSCD #12AWeek www.c-r-y.org.uk/my-pledge
EMAIL TO SEND TO MSPs
Dear
The charity Cardiac Risk in the Young is urging all MSPs to make a pledge to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death to help save young lives.
As our MSP, your support is vital to help raise awareness in our local media. Any support you are able to give will help to prevent young sudden cardiac deaths in our community, and the tragedies other families and communities are suffering every day in the UK.
Why do we need MSPs to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death?
UK 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
- Heart Disease Action Plan 2021
- 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
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 of these deaths.
Current UK policies are contradictory, with our guidelines based on inconsistent assessments of the incidence, methods of diagnosis and management of cardiac conditions in young people.
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 MSPs support this campaign and sign up to the pledge?
To immediately sign up to the campaign, MSPs 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 #MSPsupport4CRY to establish a national strategy to prevent #YSCD to help save young lives #12AWeek www.c-r-y.org.uk/my-pledge
What will happen once MSPs have signed the pledge?
All those MSPs who support this pledge (in a letter, email, tweet or other) will have their name added to the webpage www.c-r-y.org.uk/my-pledge where it will state “The following MSPs have pledged their support to establish a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death in the UK.” You will be invited to the next Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party Parliamentary Group to debate the evidence relating to the incidence of young sudden cardiac death which is informing current policy.
