SADS Week 2019

SADS Week 2019

SADS Awareness Week

30 September - 4 October

The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust's (JHMT) annual SADS Awareness Week marks the anniversary of the loss to Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) victim 14 year old Joe Humphries from Rothley who suddenly collapsed and died whilst out jogging on 4th October 2012.

Every week 12 young people (12 – 35 years old) in the UK die due to undiagnosed heart conditions. The survival rate from a cardiac arrest in the UK is less than 10% as an average, but it could be 90% if bystanders immediately start CPR and there is access to a public defibrillator within 8 minutes.

To mark this key milestone in the JHMT calendar, on the anniversary of Joe Humphries' untimely death, we hold the annual SADS Awareness Week where we remind and educate healthcare professionals, sports-related professionals and parents and carers of young people about the dangers of undiagnosed heart conditions like SADS. Year on year, we build on the awareness we raise of these heart conditions.

For healthcare staff in Leicestershire, there is a SADS conference to educate hospital and community health workers about these subtle conditions and their warning signs. The expert staff at the Glenfield Hospital can diagnose patients, screen their families (many of these conditions are genetic) and prevent future deaths with advice, medication or an "internal" defibrillator. There is a lot to be positive about, so long as staff are aware of SADS.

These are preventable deaths and can cause untold, life-long suffering for those left behind. You can make a difference this SADS Week by taking a few simple measures to learn how to save a life:

  • Learn more about SADS – Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome which can strike without any warning in seemingly fit and healthy children and young adults. "Arrhythmic" means that the heart goes into an abnormal rhythm (beat) which can result in either a faint, or a full cardiac arrest (heart stopping and death).
  • Check your family tree to see if there's any history of unexpected, unexplained death ( under the age of 40).
  • to find out more about how your sports club and group can become a member of the growing 'Heart Safe' sports community across the city and county – go to Joe's Mini HeartStart for Sports Clubs training programme and the Trust's impact pages which is packed with key information about free advice/consultancy on how to acquire a defibrillator (AED) & advice on how to secure funding support via grants .
  • To learn how to do CPR – see www.bhf.org.uk - or search "hands free CPR" to learn from the Internet – it only takes 2 minutes to learn how to save a life!
  • To learn how to operate a public access defibrillator – contact JHMT for help with this
Dr Ffion Davies, Consultant Specialist in Emergency Medicine, UHL NHS Trust & JHMT Medical Lead

As the patron of Joe's Trust (JHMT) I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so much time and effort to this year's annual SADS Awareness Week 2019 programme. Once again, a timely reminder for us all about the importance of people having the basic CPR lifesaving skills and knowing how to use a defibrillator. What a bystander does or does not do in those vital few seconds and minutes following a collapse can be the difference between surviving or not, which tragically is the case for so many people every year in the UK (27,000 potentially survivable deaths including young people).


Simple Skills really do save lives and CPR can buy vital time. If more and people understand this one message during this year's SADS Week and take a few minutes to learn CPR so to be better prepared to save a life then we really can make further inroads into giving someone a better chance of survival.

Congratulations! to all those Leicestershire and Leicester sports clubs who are working closely with JHMT to create a heart safe environment both on and off the sports field.

Well done also to everyone involved at Charnwood Scouts for taking steps to create a heart safe culture by equipping leaders and scouts with key life- saving skills and the launch of a special CPR and AED familiarisation scouts badge. A reminder to us all that everyone can be a lifesaver.

Once again, 'Thank you' also to the loyal band of willing volunteers who give up so much of their time and share their many talents to help JHMT raise awareness of SADS and goal to reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac deaths in young people (12 – 35 years old) like Joe.

Martin Johnson CBE - patron of JHMT

Show Your Support

Help JHMT save young heartbeats

Join our Don’t think – Just ACT! - learn CPR & defibrillation poster campaign

Print off this year's SADS Week 2019 campaign posters above and put it up in the office or home. Share with friends and family.

You can also download a copy of the Don't think – Just ACT! screen save advert to promote the week on your Facebook and Twitter home page.

Download Instructions

  1. Right-click on the link to the file you want to download.
  2. Choose "Save Target As …"
  3. Choose where you want to save the file on your hard drive.
  4. Click 'Save'.

Forewarned is forearmed - Learn about SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome)

'I feel it's something that all parents need to be aware of. If you don't have the information you can't make a choice' - Martin Johnson CBE patron of JHMT

For further information see SADS and the symptoms to look out for

Find out more

Don’t think, Just ACT! - Learn CPR and how to use a Defibrillator

Heart attack and cardiac arrest are different: in a heart attack the heart continues to work a little, but in a cardiac arrest the heart actually stops beating. In the UK, there are 60,000 cardiac arrests every year in the community. Half of these are witnessed, often by family and friends, but the survival rate in this group is less than 10 per cent.

Only 20 per cent of victims are in a 'shockable rhythm', which can be treated by defibrillation, sometimes before an ambulance arrives. Survival is much more likely when a shockable rhythm is present and delaying CPR and possible defibrillation will increase the death rate by ten percent every minute without treatment.

The proportion of people in a shockable rhythm could be increased if more cardiac arrest victims received immediate and effective CPR from bystanders. That's why we're so keen to provide this vitally important training and make sure as many people as possible know what to do to increase someone's chances of survival.

Schools are now introducing training in CPR and AED familiarisation within their curriculum. With the help of many sports clubs JHMT is concentrating on getting public access defibrillators in, or close to, sports facilities and expanding the basic training to all sports participants. Sport now has a "Duty of Care" and already the Leicestershire cricket fraternity have adopted the principle of having public access defibrillators installed wherever possible. This is being mirrored in football and rugby.

"With cardiac arrest, it is better for a bystander to do something than to do nothing" Dr Mike Ferguson, JHMT Trustee and JHMT medical group

For more information on how you can save a life, please read our instructions on how to carry out basic CPR

Other links:

Joe's Mini Heartstart 4 sports lifesaving sessions

Join Joe's army of Volunteers

If you want to go the extra mile to help Joe's Trust raise awareness and reduce the incidence of sudden, cardiac death in young people, 12 - 35 years old, please come and join us. It doesn't matter whether you can sponsor an event, taking part in fundraising activities, hand out leaflets for an hour, or make a cup of tea.

Join Joe's growing army of volunteers who go the extra mile to make a difference to help JHMT save young heart beats


JHMT Inspire Awards small grants - helping young people (13 – 21 yrs old) from the city and county fulfil their potential, develop their talents & make a difference across the community.

JHMT Inspire Awards of up to £500 are handed out to young people aged 13-21 from Leicester and Leicestershire to help them fulfill their ambitions in the fields of music, arts, sports and community endeavour. Since the awards' inception in 2014, more than £30,000 has been awarded to help 160 young people to do some amazing things.

For further info' go to: Inspire Awards

#sports #arts #music #community #Leicestershire #Leicester

Upcoming Events

Quorn Scouts Group (Charnwood) HeartStart CPR and AED familiarisation Training

Quorn Scouts Group (Charnwood) HeartStart CPR and AED familiarisation Training

Mon, 30th Sep 2019, 19:30 - 21:00

CPR and defibrillator training will take place for members of 2 Quorn Scouts Group (Charnwood) who are committed to creating a heartsafe environment for all their leaders and scout members.

SADS in Sport Talk – Loughborough College

SADS in Sport Talk – Loughborough College

Tue, 01st Oct 2019, 16:00 - 18:15

Jeanette Simpson-Millard, one of the senior sisters in the LRI Emergency Department and member of the JHMT medical group, will deliver a SADS in Sport talk to increase awareness and understanding of underlying heart conditions that can effect athletes and those who participate in high level and regular sport and physical activities and how everyone can be better prepared in case of a cardiac emergency on and of the field of play. The talk is open to all students, staff, and members of the community.

Joe's Mini HeartStart for Sports Training

Joe's Mini HeartStart for Sports Training

Wed, 02nd Oct 2019, 19:30 - 21:00

CPR and defibrillator training will take place with members of Highfield Rangers FC and Football and Sports Academy with former LCFC's Matthew Piper.

Joe's Mini HeartStart for Sports Training

Joe's Mini HeartStart for Sports Training

Thu, 03rd Oct 2019, 19:30 - 21:00

CPR and defibrillator training will take place with members of Leicester Rowing Club the West End Running Club, who now have a public access defibrillator on site in a box donated by JHMT to demonstrate their commitment to creating a heart safe environment for all their members at club and the local community in the West End of the city.

JHMT Photography Competition

JHMT Photography Competition

Fri, 04th Oct 2019, 10:00 - 11:00

The week will also see the preparation commence to launch the sixth Joe's Photography Competition at De Lisle College, which was Joe's school.

Best Friends

Best Friends

Sat, 05th Oct 2019

Meg Holland and Georgie Roe all set to go the distance to make a difference to support Joe's Trust ( JHMT).

Georgie will be running in the Bournemouth 10k on Sat 5/10 to raise funds for Joe's Trust JHMT and in doing so raise awareness of SADS and help save young lives. To find out more go to: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GeorgieRoe

Meg will be taking part in her first ever Triathon on Sun 6/10 to raise funds for Joe's Trust JHMT and in doing so raise awareness of SADS and help save young lives – to find out more go to:L https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MegHolland

JHMT Annual Bike Ride - Rothley to Staunton Harold and Around

JHMT Annual Bike Ride - Rothley to Staunton Harold and Around

Sun, 06th Oct 2019, 08:30 - 16:00

Our Annual Bike Ride as part of SADS week will start out from Rothley at 8.30 am - it is approximately 50 miles and we expect it to finish early afternoon. It is a great way to finish Summer and the Bike Season

All Hands On! for this year’s Restart A Heart Day

All Hands On! for this year’s Restart A Heart Day

Wed, 16th Oct 2019

The Restart a Heart campaign (RSAH) is an annual initiative led by the Resuscitation Council (UK) in partnership with The British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, St John Ambulance, and Yorkshire Ambulance Service which aims to improve the low numbers of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.