A FIRST aid charity has revealed more than half of Britons would not know what to do if they were faced with someone suffering from cardiac arrest.

The St John Ambulance study showed 61 per cent would not know what to do, along with 81 per cent would not know where their nearest defibrillator was.

Andrew Stephenson, Pendle’s MP, said he would urge everyone to make sure they knew how to tackle those sorts of situations as it may save someone’s life.

He said: “I support St John Ambulance’s call for the nation to get prepared in the event of a cardiac arrest.

“I recently promoted St John Ambulance’s Big First Aid Lesson 2017, which was designed to teach CPR and first aid training in schools.

“This is an issue that I have constantly spoken on and recently been helping with a project to install numerous new defibrillators across Pendle.

“As a community first responder with the North West Ambulance Service, I know that it is incredibly important to be ready and prepared in the event of a cardiac arrest.

“It is very worrying to hear that people still don’t know where their nearest defibrillator is or have the confidence to use it.

“This is so important considering the huge differences in survival rates when a defibrillator is used.”

The charity revealed up to seven out of 10 people who suffer a cardiac arrest could survive if they were treated with a defibrillator inside the first five minutes.”